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GraphQL vs REST Decision Guide: Choose based on client diversity and query complexity
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graphqlrestn+1dataloaderover-fetchingcachingschema
Problem
Teams choose GraphQL based on hype without evaluating whether their use case justifies the operational complexity — schema stitching, N+1 queries, authorization at resolver level, and lack of HTTP caching.
Solution
Choose REST when: you have a small number of well-defined client use cases, HTTP caching is important, or API consumers are external and diverse. Choose GraphQL when: you have many different clients with varying data needs, under-fetching/over-fetching is a real problem, and you have the operational maturity to manage a schema.
Why
REST benefits from 30 years of HTTP infrastructure (CDNs, caches, proxies). GraphQL's flexibility comes with real costs in complexity. The decision should be driven by data access patterns and team capability, not trends.
Gotchas
- GraphQL does not prevent N+1 queries — you must implement DataLoader explicitly.
- GraphQL authorization must be implemented at both field and type level — forgetting field-level auth leaks data.
- REST with sparse fieldsets and resource inclusion (like JSON:API) solves many over-fetching problems without GraphQL's complexity.
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