[masklinn]

You seem to be confusing graphql with something graph-like but completely unrelated. It was fully designed as an external API protocol. At no point is it intended to sit between your server and your DB, though I guess you could use it that way if you really wanted to.

> The API itself still needs to exist regardless of GraphQL

It really, absolutely, emphatically, does not.

[derefr]

I think maybe we're using "API" differently, here? GraphQL lets you query and mutate an object graph, but things exist that can't be (canonically, compactly) represented as a tree of objects. And usually at least a few of those things are necessary for any given API.

For example, how do you implement your AAA login logic using GraphQL? You don't, right? Logging in isn't really anything to do with querying or mutating an object tree. (You can deform your logic into making it so, but you'll be breaking things like the ability to do OpenID Connect.)

How do you implement an endpoint to stream chat message events in GraphQL? You don't, right? You want a stream of trees? A tree of stream-poll-results? There's an impedance mismatch here.

You want to use GraphQL to upload attachments? Use GraphQL for webhooks? Use GraphQL for Operational Transformations in a Google Docs-alike? No, no, no.

GraphQL is useful for implementing the message-format of particular endpoints of an API. It doesn't work for all endpoints. Unless your API is entirely just about a particular object graph, you still need to put your GraphQL inside a larger abstraction that distinguishes the GraphQL endpoints from the other endpoints.

[pmoleri]

I share most of your points, however I think there are two that actually play well with GraphQL.

> You want a stream of trees?

I was under the impression that is what GraphQL subscriptions are for but I haven't had the chance to try them. Isn't that so?

> You want to use GraphQL to upload attachments?

I have been using apollo-upload and it works quite well.