February 2021 Summaries

We built Apollo's new interactive learning platform, Odyssey, in just three months by leveraging familiar tools like React, Gatsby, MDX, and Netlify. Our approach to building an LMS allowed for a smooth authoring flow and easy maintenance of our content. We used MDX to write courses in a single file, which is then parsed into separate lessons when rendered, providing a more organized file structure. Styling was handled with Chakra UI, while animations were added using Framer Motion. The interactive coding challenges are powered by Netlify Functions, executing tests against the code and returning results to the browser. Our launch iteration is currently private, but we may open it as an open source project in the future.

GraphQL mutations are used to modify server-side data, whereas queries are used to fetch data. Mutations represent the state-changing methods in REST, similar to `DELETE`, `PUT`, and `PATCH`. The structure of a mutation is similar to that of a query, with the main difference being the operation type (`mutation` instead of `query`). Server-side resolvers for mutations involve code that changes state, whereas those for queries typically only fetch data. When determining whether to use a query or a mutation, it's essential to ask yourself if you're fetching data or modifying server-side state.

This summary provides an overview of what is a GraphQL query, how it works, and how to write and execute them using Apollo Explorer. A GraphQL query fetches data, whereas a mutation changes data. The `query` keyword is optional but recommended for readability. GraphQL queries are plain strings that can be executed using various tools such as curl, fetch, or GraphQL client libraries. The Explorer IDE provides a workspace to run build, run, and save queries. It's beneficial to name queries for clarity. Queries can use nesting to ask for related data, and the `query` and `name` keywords are optional but recommended. A GraphQL operation can be either a query or a mutation, with queries fetching data and mutations changing data. The summary covers key points about GraphQL queries, including their usage, execution methods, and the benefits of using Apollo Explorer.

GraphQL is a query language and server-side runtime that serves data over HTTP, aiming to improve the way developers build applications on the web by providing a more efficient, performant, and developer-friendly approach to client-server communication. It was designed to reduce complexity in app development by allowing developers to fetch only the required data from various sources, reducing bandwidth consumption and improving performance. GraphQL has gained significant adoption since its open-sourcing in 2015, offering benefits such as strongly typed APIs, hierarchical and declarative data querying, and decoupling of clients from servers, making it a popular choice among notable companies like GitHub, PayPal, and Twitter.