APIs: REST vs GraphQL vs gRPC

APIs: REST vs GraphQL vs gRPC

Overview

APIs define how your frontend and backend (or services) talk.

REST

• Resources and endpoints (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE)
• Simple, widely adopted, cache-friendly

GraphQL

• Single endpoint; clients ask exactly for needed fields
• Great for complex UIs; requires schema and resolvers

gRPC

• Binary protocol over HTTP/2 using protobufs; great for service-to-service
• Not browser-native; best for backend microservices

Choosing

• Most capstone teams should start with REST
• Consider GraphQL if you have nested UIs and over/under-fetching pain

Example

• REST: GET /api/projects/:id returns project with tasks
• GraphQL: query project(id) { id name tasks { id title status } }

Checklist

• Document endpoints or schema early
• Handle pagination, filtering, and errors consistently
• Version your API

Resources

• OpenAPI/Swagger docs
• graphql.org/learn
• grpc.io/docs