June 2021 Summaries

The article highlights eight free-to-use GraphQL APIs that developers can use for their projects and demos. These APIs include Space X API, SWAPI (Star Wars API), Rick and Morty API, Countries API, PokeAPI, DexAPI, Anilist API, and GitHub API. Each API provides a unique set of features and data, allowing developers to test and learn about GraphQL in a real-world context. The article includes example queries for each API to get started with using them. Some APIs are free for non-commercial use and have rate limits, while others require authorization headers or personal access tokens. The GitHub API is particularly notable for its support of both queries and mutations, making it suitable for building more in-depth examples and demos.

Apollo Sandbox is an open GraphQL IDE for local development that aims to make Apollo tools more accessible and valuable for every GraphQL developer. It offers a one-click query building feature in Explorer, allowing users to eliminate syntax errors and increase productivity. The tool also features an intelligent search field and path search (`⌘ + K`) to help navigate complex graphs with thousands of fields and types. Sandbox provides flexible response formatting options, including interactive JSON or table formats with collapsible sections and data sorting. Additionally, it allows users to explore and test their local GraphQL server without setup, and supports public endpoints for testing. The tool is open and accessible, requiring no login, but offers customization settings for logged-in users.

Adopting a DevOps culture can help teams ship changes to their GraphQL APIs quickly and reliably by improving communication around data graphs, using tools like Apollo that provide a platform for building, testing, and releasing data graphs, and offering observability features to monitor graph performance.