A remote talk I gave together with my teammate Jerel Miller at React Summit Amsterdam.
GraphQL in 2023 - Still Relevant?
Abstract (click to expand)
With fetching libraries like TanStack Query, swr, or RTK Query becoming more widespread, some of the immediate “selling points” of GraphQL clients seem to be less unique - so it might be a good idea to take a step back and ask the question “is this even still relevant?”.
And to already take the answer away - it is “yes”.
The unique selling points of GraphQL go far beyond having a smooth data fetching experience by solving many inter-team and architectural problems.
While it might not always be immediately evident as a benefit for us as Frontend Developers, GraphQL gives us a lot of freedom and makes us less dependent on backend teams implementing a Backend-for-the-frontend for us.
Also, while data-fetching libraries have made it a lot easier to work with REST nowadays, GraphQL still has properties that are just not present in traditional REST APIs, and on top of that GraphQL has kept evolving.
New directives like @live or @defer enable developers to create a fantastic user experience with very little work - especially when combined with React’s new suspense features.