Choosing the Right Tool

A Comparative Look at gRPC, REST an GraphQL

Transcript

2. Your guiding light to innovation
3. CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOOL: A COMPARATIVE LOOK AT GRPC, REST, AND GRAPHQL JAVA MEETUP - VIENNA DAMJAN GJUROVSKI 21 May 2024
4. 4 HI • Damjan Gjurovski • Dev and Ops J • Written REST code for a long while, dabbled in GraphQL for some frontend apps and implemented (and debugged) gRPC in performance-critical applications
5. WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME 1. The sandbox 2. REST, GraphQL, gRPC – what do the letters mean 3. Let’s compare them, but fairly 4.What should I use in my project?
6. THE SANDBOX 1
7. 7 OUR TINY APP • Book rooms in a hotel • Mental model • What would a database model look like • What would Java entities look like
8. REST, GRAPHQL, GRPC – WHAT DO THE LETTERS MEAN 2
9. 9 REST • Representational state transfer • Resources on the server • Identifiers • Representation over the wire • HTTP verbs to modify state
10. 10 REST PROBLEMS • Misuse / verbs in URL • Batch transactions • Partial data requests
11. 11 GRAPHQL • Only request data as needed • Schema is defined separately, and compatibility can be ensured/enforced
12. 12 GRAPHQL PROBLEMS • Caching • Complex queries • Schema evolution
13. 13 GRPC • Binary protocol – super fast • Protobuf schema is defined separately, and compatibility can be ensured/enforced • Nice features for scale
14. 14 GRPC PROBLEMS • Remote procedure calls • Server to server communication • Code generation / stubs • Debugging
15. LET'S COMPARE THEM, BUT FAIRLY 3
16. 16 • Client – Server • Browser – Server • API Client - Server • Server – Server • Microservices • Backend servers COMMUNICATION TYPES
17. 17 • Lots of data • Only partially used data • Streaming data • Little data • Data represents state DATA
18. 18 • Security • Latency • Schema evolution NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS
19. 19 HOW TO BUILD FAST ON TOP OF SLOW SYSTEMS
20. 20 HOW TO BUILD FAST ON TOP OF SLOW SYSTEMS
21. WHAT SHOULD I USE IN MY PROJECT 4
22. 22 THIS IS THE WAY • Use gRPC for critical, complex projects • Use graphQL when you need to support multiple clients with different needs • When not sure use REST
23. 23 WANT TO KEEP THE DISCUSSION GOING? MESSAGE ME ON LINKEDIN!