Hire the Best GraphQL Developers

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Toqeer A.

Multan, Pakistan

$30/hr
5.0
98 jobs

Are you looking for a SHOPIFY ENIGINEER who can go beyond basic theme settings? 🚀 I am a Full-Stack Shopify Developer specializing in deep custom coding, high-performance themes, and scalable app development. With 6+ years of experience and a live public app on the Shopify App Store (BoostUp Upsell), I build technical solutions that drive revenue and site speed. I don’t just install apps—I build them. I don’t just "set up" themes—I engineer them from the ground up using Liquid, JavaScript, and GraphQL. What I bring to your project: 🛠️ Advanced Theme Development Custom Liquid Coding: Bespoke sections, meta objects, and complex logic. Performance First: Eliminating bloated apps by custom-coding features directly into the theme. Shopify Markets: Expert setup for multi-currency and international expansion. 🌐 Full-Stack & App Development Public & Private Apps: Expert in the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js). Shopify APIs: Seamless integrations using GraphQL and REST Admin APIs. Headless Commerce: Building modern, lightning-fast storefronts. 📊 Data & Analytics (GA4/GTM) Conversion Tracking: Flawless GA4 and GTM configuration. Technical SEO: Google Search Console setup and Core Web Vitals optimization. Why hire me? I am the creator of the **BoostUp Upsell** app. This means I understand the Shopify ecosystem at a level most developers don't. I write clean, documented code that is built to scale as your business grows. 📩 Ready to build something unique? Let’s discuss your project requirements today.

  • GraphQL
  • Shopify
  • Shopify Templates
  • Shopify Theme
  • Shopify Apps
  • Shopify Plus
  • Shopify Website Design
  • Shopify Development
  • Shopify Website Redesign
  • Shopify Dropshipping
  • Set Up Shopify Site
  • Shopify SEO
  • Shopify Marketing
  • WordPress Theme
Kanav S.

Mohali, India

$16/hr
4.7
207 jobs

My Upwork track record includes $200K+ in earnings, 100% Job Success, Top Rated Plus status, and 168+ completed projects. I’m a Senior Full Stack Developer with 10+ years of experience building scalable, high-performance web applications, SaaS platforms, AI-powered solutions, and custom business systems. I specialize in React, Next.js, Node.js, TypeScript, and the MERN stack, with strong experience in backend development, APIs, databases, integrations, and cloud deployment. What I build: SaaS Platforms & MVPs AI-Powered Web Applications AI Chatbots & AI Agents Custom Web Applications CRM & ERP Systems Admin Dashboards & Customer Portals REST APIs & GraphQL eCommerce & Business Platforms React Native Mobile Applications Tech Stack: Frontend: React, Next.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, Tailwind CSS Backend: Node.js, Express.js, NestJS Databases: MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Supabase AI: OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, AI APIs & Automation Payments: Stripe, PayPal Cloud: AWS, Vercel, Firebase, Docker CMS: WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify I can help with new product development, existing application improvements, API integrations, performance optimization, debugging, and scalable architecture. My focus is simple: clean code, reliable systems, strong performance, and business-focused solutions. Have an idea or an existing application that needs improvement? Let’s discuss it.

  • GraphQL
  • React
  • Node.js
  • MERN Stack
  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Supabase
  • API
  • Full-Stack Development
  • Material UI
  • NestJS
  • OAuth
  • GitHub
  • Database
  • AI Platform
Godhani D.

Surat, India

$15/hr
4.8
75 jobs

Hi Guys, I am Dharmik Godhani. A passionate senior full-stack developer having 8+ years of experience and providing technical services: ✨ COMPLETED JOB: 30+ ✨ EXPERIENCE: 8+ Years ✨ SKILLS: Web & Application Development 🚩What can you expect from my web development services⁉️ ✔ Expertise in building robust and dynamic web applications from scratch. ✔ Seamless integration of the latest technologies to create feature-rich apps. ✔ Focus on optimizing website speed without compromising on layout and functionalities. ✔ Ensuring responsive design for smooth user experiences across all devices. ✔ Implementing cutting-edge security measures to safeguard your data. ✔ Thorough testing and bug fixing to deliver flawless results. ⭐I am expertise in many programming skills ⭐ Web Frontend Technologies ➖➖➖➖ 🛠 ReactJS/ NextJS/ Redux/ Redux Saga/ Hooks 🛠 Angular8/11/13 / Ionic Expert / NgRX ( State Management ) / GraphQL ( Apollo Client ) 🛠 HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript/BOOTSTRAP 5/TypeScript/SCSS/LESS/Flex Box/ 🛠 MUI/ material-UI / Ant Design ( NG ZORRO ) / Tailwind CSS / SemanticUI 🛠 Theme Customization Backend Technologies ➖➖➖➖ 🛠 PHP [with the framework: Laravel] 🛠 Python [with Django MVC/ DRF/ Flask/ Fast API/ Bottle] 🛠 JS [with the framework: Node.JS/Nest.JS] Database Tools ➖➖➖➖ 🛠 SQL : MySQL/ PostgreSQL 🛠 NoSQL : MongoDB 🛠 Redis 🛠 Dynamic : Firebase / Firestore 🛠 SQLite DB Web Hosting ➖➖➖➖ 🛠 Azure / AWS Web Hosting 🛠 Comfortable with setting up VPS from scratch ❤️Why a Skilled Web Developer Matters?❤️ 1. A proficient developer ensures your website's functionality and appearance are top-notch. 2. Web applications built with expertise attract more users and potential customers. 3. Fast-loading websites lead to better search engine rankings and increased user satisfaction. ♛ I will make your website so best that your visitors will say 😃"WOW!".😃 📞 LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT 📞 Thanks, Dharmik Godhani

  • GraphQL
  • JavaScript
  • ECMAScript
  • HTML5
  • Vue.js
  • React
  • Django
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Bootstrap
  • Angular
  • Python
  • TypeScript
  • Next.js
  • Firebase
  • Node.js
  • MongoDB
Hamza A.

Karachi, Pakistan

$35/hr
5.0
27 jobs

𝟲+ 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀-𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 across FinTech, HealthTech, EdTech, Logistics, and PropTech. I've owned everything from the first commit to the on-call rotation. Comfortable as the sole senior on a founding team or the technical lead on a growing dev team. My background is heavy on 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲-𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 with real concurrency, real payment flows, and real uptime requirements. 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄. I use every tool that speeds me up (Claude, Cursor, Copilot, ChatGPT, v0). The engineering background under it is what actually makes the output usable: catching wrong output before it lands, and shipping fast without leaving broken stuff behind. 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱: React, Next.js, TypeScript, Vue.js, Angular, Tailwind, shadcn/ui 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱: Node.js, NestJS, Express, 𝗣𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻 (FastAPI, Flask, Django) 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲: React Native, Flutter, Expo, Swift, Kotlin. Shipped to App Store and Google Play 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, MySQL, Prisma ORM, Drizzle 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 & 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀: 𝗔𝗪𝗦 (EC2, ECS, Lambda, S3, RDS, SQS, CloudFront, IAM, KMS, CDK), GCP (BigQuery, Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub), Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, Terraform 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 & 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮: WebSockets, Redis pub/sub, BullMQ, event-driven architecture, microservices 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵 & 𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Firebase, Cognito, Auth0, JWT, OAuth, Stripe 𝗔𝗜 / 𝗟𝗟𝗠: OpenAI, Claude, RAG pipelines, vector stores (Pinecone, pgvector) 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿: VBA (spreadsheet automation and legacy Office integrations) 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: 𝗪𝗲𝗯 & 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — SaaS platforms, marketplaces, dashboards, cross-platform mobile 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 & 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 — CI/CD, IaC (CDK/Terraform), monitoring, cost optimization 𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — LLM features, RAG pipelines, AI agents 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 & 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 — system design, code reviews, scaling strategy 𝗠𝗩𝗣 & 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱-𝗼𝘂𝘁 — idea to production with lean, iterative delivery 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 & 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — full publishing pipeline, certificates, CI 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: FinTech, Health & Wellness, LegalTech, Transportation & Logistics, EdTech, Real Estate / PropTech, Social Platforms, Industrial / IoT, E-commerce & Retail, Sports Analytics, Event Tech

  • GraphQL
  • Full-Stack Development
  • React
  • Next.js
  • NodeJS Framework
  • NestJS Development
  • MongoDB
  • PostgreSQL Programming
  • TypeScript
  • SaaS Development
  • JavaScript
  • React Native
  • Python
  • Software Architecture & Design
  • Docker
  • Firebase
  • Stripe
  • Terraform
  • Amazon Web Services
Ketan D.

Rajkot, India

$25/hr
4.9
21 jobs

🚀I build React and Next.js applications that load in under 2 seconds and scale to millions of users. 💼 9+ years experience | 80+ projects delivered My applications serve 600K+ monthly users with 99.9% uptime. Clients report 35% higher conversion rates and 50% faster page loads. 🧩 FRONTEND DEVELOPMENT ⚛️ React.js & Next.js Production-grade applications with SSR, SSG, ISR. TypeScript architectures scaling from MVP to enterprise. Performance optimization achieving sub-200ms TTI and Core Web Vitals 90+. 🧠 React Flow Node-based editors, workflow builders, and diagram systems. Custom nodes handling 500+ elements without performance issues. Real-time collaboration via WebSocket. 🎨 UI Engineering Pixel-perfect Figma implementations using Tailwind CSS, SCSS, Styled Components. Responsive designs across 20+ devices. Storybook documentation and WCAG 2.1 AA compliance. 🔗 GraphQL & APIs Apollo Client and React Query implementations reducing API calls by 40%. Optimized REST & GraphQL integrations with caching. 🧱 BACKEND DEVELOPMENT Symfony (PHP) Enterprise PHP applications with API Platform, Doctrine ORM, JWT authentication, and Messenger queues for background processing. 📊 RECENT OUTCOMES SaaS Dashboard: 50K+ users, 45% faster load times React Flow Builder: 100K+ daily node operations Symfony API: 2M+ monthly requests, sub-100ms response E-commerce Frontend: 32% conversion increase 🧠 MY APPROACH Architecture-first planning Strict TypeScript typing on every component Jest & React Testing Library coverage AI-accelerated development with GitHub Copilot & Cursor delivering 40% faster output without quality compromise 📢 Proactive communication with daily updates No ghosting. No missed deadlines. ⚡ Currently accepting 2-3 projects Response within 3 hours 🧰 TECHNOLOGIES React.js, Next.js, React Flow, Symfony, TypeScript, JavaScript, Tailwind CSS, SCSS, Styled Components, GraphQL, Redux, REST API, PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Docker, Jest, Figma, AWS, Vercel, Git, WebSocket, Stripe 👉 Send project requirements with timeline and scale expectations 🔑 KEYWORDS React Developer, React.js, ReactJS, Next.js Developer, NextJS, Frontend Developer, Full Stack Developer, JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, PHP, Symfony Developer, Redux, GraphQL, REST API, API Development, Tailwind CSS, CSS3, HTML5, SCSS, Styled Components, React Flow, React Hooks, Responsive Design, Web Application Development, SaaS Application, Dashboard Development, Server-Side Rendering (SSR), AWS, Vercel, Docker, Git, Jest, Figma, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, E-commerce Development, Stripe Integration, WebSocket, Performance Optimization, Core Web Vitals, Scalable Applications

  • GraphQL
  • TypeScript
  • Symfony
  • PHP
  • REST API
  • React
  • Next.js
  • JavaScript
  • Node.js
  • Redux
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Front-End Development
  • Full-Stack Development
  • Web Application Development
  • CSS
Parth G.

Manchester, United Kingdom

$45/hr
4.8
23 jobs

👋 Hi, I'm Parth. 🏆 Expert-Vetted (Top 1% on Upwork) | ⭐ 100% Job Success | 💰 $200K+ Earned | ⏱️ 8,800+ Hours I build production software end to end. React and TypeScript on the front, Node and PostgreSQL behind it, and AI where it actually makes the product better. Most of my work is SaaS: multi-tenant platforms, dashboards, internal tools, and the APIs that power them. 8+ years shipping software teams use every day, with engagements that run two to four thousand hours, because clients keep me around. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚙️ Backend Node and Express APIs with authentication, role-based access, third-party integrations, file uploads, and background jobs. PostgreSQL schemas designed properly, Prisma models and migrations, query optimisation, indexing, and transactions. 🤖 AI & Automation OpenAI and Claude integrations in production for chat, content generation, and workflow automation. RAG pipelines with LangChain and vector databases for document search and Q&A. AI agents that talk to external tools and APIs. And AI-assisted development (Cursor, Claude) in my daily workflow, with my own judgment on everything before it ships. 🎨 Frontend This is where I go deepest. React, Next.js, Angular, TypeScript, Tailwind. Design systems, component libraries, data-heavy dashboards, Figma to pixel-accurate production UI, and performance work. 💳 Payments & ☁️ Infrastructure Stripe in production: one-time payments, subscriptions, webhooks, customer management. AWS deployments I run myself (EC2, S3, RDS, CloudFront), plus SSL, environments, and monitoring. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 What clients say ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Amazing front end developer, thorough, and great communication skills." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "He not only delivered exceptional development work but also played a key role in architecting our entire application." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "It's very hard to find high quality developers, and we were very pleased with the work Parth did for us." ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✅ Why clients stay ✔️ I take ownership instead of waiting for instructions ✔️ I communicate clearly and keep projects moving ✔️ I write clean, maintainable code the next developer won't curse at ✔️ I flag problems early instead of hiding them ✔️ I work like part of your team, not a freelancer passing through Most of my work comes from long-term clients and repeat collaborations. I think that says more than any list of technologies. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🛠️ My Stack 🎨 Frontend — React • Next.js • Angular • TypeScript • JavaScript • Tailwind • Material UI • Redux ⚙️ Backend — Node.js • Express • NestJS • REST APIs • GraphQL • WebSockets • JWT • OAuth 🗄️ Database — PostgreSQL • Prisma • MongoDB • Redis • Supabase 🤖 AI — OpenAI • Claude • LangChain • RAG • Vector DBs • AI Agents • Prompt Engineering ☁️ Cloud & DevOps — AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, CloudFront) • Docker • Vercel • GitHub Actions • CI/CD 🔗 Integrations — Stripe • Twilio • Firebase • Auth0 • Clerk • Slack • and other third-party APIs ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🚀 Building something and want a developer who can own the whole thing, front to back? Send me a message, I'd love to hear what you're working on.

  • GraphQL
  • React
  • Node.js
  • Next.js
  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • ExpressJS
  • NestJS
  • PostgreSQL
  • REST API
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Docker
  • OpenAI API
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • API Integration
  • MongoDB
  • Redis
  • SaaS
  • Supabase
  • Software Architecture

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How to Hire Top GraphQL Developers

How to hire GraphQL developers

Imagine the convenience of having a single smart API (application programming interface) endpoint from which you could query all sorts of complex information from different data sources. A GraphQL developer can help you turn that dream into a reality.

So how do you hire a GraphQL developer? What follows are some tips for finding top GraphQL consultants on Upwork.

How to shortlist GraphQL professionals

As you’re browsing available GraphQL consultants, it can be helpful to develop a shortlist of the professionals you may want to interview. You can screen profiles on criteria such as:

  • Industry fit. You want a GraphQL developer who understands your industry so they can help you figure out how best to reach your target market.
  • Project experience. Screen candidate profiles for specific skills and experience (e.g., creating a GraphQL API for a short-term rental booking app).
  • Feedback. Check reviews from past clients for glowing testimonials or red flags that can tell you what it’s like to work with a particular GraphQL developer.

How to write an effective GraphQL job post

With a clear picture of your ideal GraphQL developer in mind, it’s time to write that job post. Although you don’t need a full job description as you would when hiring an employee, aim to provide enough detail for a contractor to know if they’re the right fit for the project.

Job post title

Create a simple title that describes exactly what you’re looking for. The idea is to target the keywords that your ideal candidate is likely to type into a job search bar to find your project. Here are some sample GraphQL job post titles:

  • GraphQL developer needed for a Shopify website
  • Full-stack developer experienced with React, Relay, and GraphQL
  • Developer needed for payment gateway integration with Braintree GraphQL API

GraphQL project description

An effective GraphQL job post should include:

  • Scope of work: From GraphQL API design to third-party integrations, list all the deliverables you’ll need.
  • Project length: Your job post should indicate whether this is a smaller or larger project.
  • Background: If you prefer experience with certain industries, software, or developer tools, mention this here.
  • Budget: Set a budget and note your preference for hourly rates vs. fixed-price contracts.

GraphQL responsibilities

Here are some examples of GraphQL job responsibilities:

  • Collaborate with project managers, developers, and designers on software projects
  • Design and implement GraphQL APIs
  • Validate and test code deliverables
  • Build and maintain a microservices architecture

GraphQL requirements and qualifications

Be sure to include any requirements and qualifications you’re looking for in a GraphQL developer. Here are some examples:

  • Proficiency with GraphQL
  • Working knowledge of graph theory
  • Experience with web services, APIs, and server-side technologies
  • Experience with preferred software technology stack (e.g., MEAN, LAMP, MERN)
>

GraphQL Developers FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is GraphQL?

Facebook describes GraphQL as “a query language for graph data that powers the lion’s share of interactions in the Facebook Android and iOS applications. Any user of the native iOS or Android app in the last two years has used an app powered by GraphQL.”

It’s a highly descriptive specification for data fetching from server to client, able to describe and manipulate very complex nested data. What this means to a developer is that a single query can structure what data it wants returned, and in what order. What this means to a user is that a specific combination of search terms can yield an array of related results, and quickly—even on mobile.

How much does it cost to hire a GraphQL developer?

The first step to determining the cost to hire a GraphQL developer will be to define your needs. Rates can vary due to many factors, including expertise and experience, location, and market conditions.

Cost factor #1: project scope

The first variable to consider when determining scope is the nature of the work that needs to be completed. Not all GraphQL projects are created equal. GraphQL only adds a simplified layer of abstraction on top of the underlying data architecture. A simple app pulling data from two or three sources will be easier to manage than an app pulling data from a sprawling microservices architecture.

Tip: The more accurately your job description describes the scope of your project, the easier it will be for talent to give you accurate cost estimates and proposals.

Cost factor #2: GraphQL developer experience

Choosing the right level of expertise for the job is closely tied to how well you determined the scope of your project. You wouldn’t need an advanced GraphQL developer to create a smart endpoint to consolidate a handful of REST APIs. On the other hand, if your back end is complex and you can’t risk your GraphQL orchestration layer exposing sensitive data, you’ll want to make sure you’re working with a professional who can harden your security.

Beyond experience level, you need to consider the type of experience the talent possesses. The following table breaks down the rates of the typical types of GraphQL developers you can find on Upwork.

Rates charged by GraphQL developers on Upwork

Level of Experience Description Hourly Rate
Beginner Proficiency in GraphQL, web services, database technologies, REST, and API development. $50-60+
Intermediate Beyond back-end fundamentals, proficiency with DevOps tools such as containers. Familiarity with front-end technologies such as React, Angular, and Vue. $60-90+
Expert Full-stack developers with experience working with complex back ends and microservices architectures. $100+

Cost factor #3: location

Location is another variable that can impact a GraphQL developer’s cost. It’s no secret that you can leverage differences in purchasing power between countries to gain savings on talent. But it’s also important to factor in hidden costs such as language barriers, time zones, and the logistics of managing a remote team. The real advantage to sourcing talent remotely on Upwork is the ability to scan a global talent pool for the best possible person for the job. Location is no longer an obstacle.

Cost factor #4: independent contractor vs. agency

The final variable regarding talent cost is hiring an independent contractor vs. an agency. An agency is often a “one size fits all” model, so you’ll often have access to a designer, a project manager, an engineer, and more. When hiring individuals you have total autonomy regarding who is responsible for which part of the project, but you’ll need to source each of those skills separately.

The trade-off between hiring individuals vs. hiring an agency is the level of administrative overhead you incur personally in coordinating tasks among all members of the team. Project scope and personal preference will determine which style is a better fit for your needs.

Common GraphQL developer mistakes

Schema duplication: A common problem encountered when building a GraphQL back end from scratch is the need for multiple schema: one for the database and another for your GraphQL endpoint. While you could easily create schema for both, there would be a lot of redundant code, and you would need to maintain two separate sources of truth.

Fortunately, the developer community has come up with a number of solutions to avoid schema duplication. One is to use GraphQL schema generation libraries to generate schema from existing code. Need a schema for your PostgreSQL database? Generate one with PostGraphile. Another is to simply convert preexisting type definitions to GraphSQL schema with the help of type resolvers.

The main idea is to turn to the developer community before spending time writing duplicate schema from scratch.

Handling GraphQL errors like REST errors: Error codes such as “403 unauthorized” or “404 not found” might make sense for a traditional REST-style API where each resource gets its own endpoint. The problem with this approach is that it negates one of the big advantages of using GraphQL: the ability to request exactly what you need from multiple data resources through a single endpoint. If any one of those resources throws a REST-style error, your entire page will respond as if it is in error, when in truth you could have still displayed some of that data had you followed the GraphQL specification’s description of error handling.

Redundant database calls: Imagine you wish to display a list of 100 customers with their addresses. In the conventional approach, this would require two database calls per view, one to pull customers, and another to pull their corresponding addresses.

But what would this look like in GraphQL? Assuming each customer has an address field with its own resolver, you’ll end up needing an initial call to pull the list of customers and an additional call to fetch each address per resolver. That’s a total of 101 database calls per view, and we haven’t even touched on the other types of fields you might want to display in your customer list.

A more elegant solution is to use a dataloader to batch and cache database calls. The dataloader will batch all calls together into a single call if it notices that you’re hitting the same database table multiple times. It will also reuse objects when necessary by storing them in a memory cache.

Tips and best practices

Stand on the shoulders of giants.

As with any other developer technology, it’s important to take advantage of the libraries, tools, and resources made available by the open-source community. GraphQL has active communities on Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Facebook. There are also Slack channels and Discord chat rooms you can join to ask questions and contribute solutions. From resolvers to command-line tools to browser IDEs, there are many tools you can find to streamline your GraphQL development experience.

Compress your JSON with Gzip.

While not required, most GraphQL services typically respond using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). Since JSON is mostly text, it’s easy to compress and handle with Gzip. It’s also well known to API developers who will have no trouble reading, handling, and debugging JSON. Most projects will enable Gzip and encourage clients to send the header “Accept-Encoding: gzip”.

Practice pagination with the Connections pattern.

Connections is a design pattern for designing APIs with feature-rich pagination. From simple page numbers for lists to more-complex pagination such as the active revealing of data based on scrolling and cursor position, Connections provides a standardized way to implement robust pagination. Client tools made for GraphQL such as Relay actively encourage the Connections design pattern.