[rco8786]

does graphql come with its own serialization protocol? I would have thought that the comparison of gRPC to GraphQL is apples/oranges.

[e1g]

GraphQL defaults to JSON over HTTP, but you can funnel it through sockets or protobuf or anything else. The conflict here is that gRPC goes beyond a serialization protocol - it's a full strongly typed RPC layer. You define your objects, methods, fields, types, relationships, data resolvers, execution pathways, etc. Just like GraphQL.

I see no meaningful advantage in binary serialization - JSON is fast enough not to be an issue, and HTTP2/GZIP minimize any bandwidth advantage. I do see a bit advantage of GraphQL in tooling and query composition, but I gRPC provides the building blocks required to rebuild that. gRPC-web is GraphQL of 12 months ago - it's definitely on the right path to help with complex data wrangling. My question is - does it do something important better/differently to GraphQL to warrant new players to enter the game and catch up to make it a strong competitor?

[ddorian43]

it uses json ? so you compare it to that

[andrewingram]

The default is JSON, but the spec doesn't mandate that it be JSON over the wire, or that even that it be over HTTP.

[throwaway2016a]

Also in the Json the "query" is actually a string that is in GraphQL language. So GraphQL is an encoded format embedded inside Json.

{ "query": "mutation Foo() { ... }" }

As such type safety is dependent on the query langauge (graphQL) not Json. As far as the Json goes, it might as well be multi-part form encoded.