GraphQL Client Libraries

Select a GraphQL client library to use with Graphlit.

While GraphQL endpoints can indeed be queried directly using standard HTTP requests, this raw approach would miss out on a number of significant benefits that come with using a dedicated GraphQL client.

These clients are specialized tools built specifically to interact with GraphQL servers, providing a range of features that optimize and enhance the process of data fetching and manipulation.

Reasons for using a GraphQL client

• Efficient Data Fetching: GraphQL clients can combine multiple queries into a single request, reducing the round-trip calls to the server.

• Caching: Many GraphQL clients have intelligent caching mechanisms, keeping track of data your application has already fetched. This can prevent unnecessary refetching of unchanged data and improve application performance.

• Normalized Data: Some clients store data in a normalized format, simplifying the process of updating specific parts of the cache when data changes.

• Declarative Data Fetching: Following GraphQL's philosophy, clients help components declare their own data needs. This design leads to more understandable and manageable data dependencies within your application.

• Optimistic UI Updates & Mutation Results: GraphQL clients often provide built-in functionalities for optimistic updates (predicting and displaying mutation results before the server confirms them) and automatically update the cache post-mutation.

• Real-time Updates with Subscriptions: Some GraphQL clients offer first-class support for GraphQL subscriptions, simplifying the setup of real-time updates from the server.

Popular GraphQL clients include Apollo Client, Relay, and URQL, each with its own set of advantages and trade-offs.

The choice of a client usually depends on factors such as data complexity, performance requirements, and compatibility with other libraries or frameworks in use.

For a comprehensive list of libraries, visit https://graphql.org/code/