February 2023 Summaries

GraphQL and nullability coexist peacefully in Apollo Kotlin, a GraphQL typesafe client library for Kotlin. Nullability is supported through annotations such as `@nonnull`, which instruct the codegen to act as if fields were non-nullable. This feature is currently an RFC in the official GraphQL spec and will allow marking fields in queries as non-nullable with a new syntax. Apollo Kotlin also generates Java code, supporting nullability through annotations like `@Nullable` and wrapping nullable types in `Optional`. The library handles null vs absent values for input values and operation arguments, providing tools to deal with nullability and avoid costly `NullPointerExceptions`. By using Apollo Kotlin, developers can leverage the strong typing of GraphQL and Kotlin to handle nullability effectively.

This is a guide on how Apollo GraphOS's monorepo is deployed using CircleCI, a continuous integration provider. The team used dynamic workflows to build and deploy their applications, leveraging features such as Mustache templating and FYAML to generate workflow configurations. They also implemented a system for detecting changes in the codebase, generating workflows based on those changes, and deploying to staging and production environments. The deployment process includes automated tests, deployment scripts, and reminders for promoting builds to production. The team has released their CircleCI orb, `platform-internal-orb`, which contains jobs and commands that can be used by others.

Apollo has recently shipped Federation 2.3, which introduces the new `@interfaceObject` directive to enable federating an interface without every subgraph knowing about every concrete implementation. Additionally, Apollo Studio now allows for managing subgraphs and variants, while also providing a high-level view of all subgraphs that make up a supergraph. The subgraph compatibility tests have been updated to reflect the status of every subgraph implementation, and the first community library to support these features is `graphql-kotlin` with its 6.4.0 release. Apollo has also released several new versions of various products, including Apollo Client, Gateway, Server, Parser, Encoder, Router, and Rover, which include bug fixes and improvements. Furthermore, Graphiti, a server-side Swift library, has been updated to support Apollo Federation, making it easier to try out Swift on the server. Upcoming events include a livestream in Discord about implementing subgraphs in Rust, scheduled for February 22, and another Changelog post on March 6.

The Apollo Federation and GraphOS now support entity interfaces, which allow for better collaboration and separation of concerns in distributed GraphQL APIs. Entity interfaces enable the creation of abstracted objects that can be used across multiple subgraphs without duplicating concrete implementations. The new feature introduces two directives: `@key` to define key fields on interfaces and `@interfaceObject` to declare an entity interface as an object type locally, allowing for easier addition of fields to the interface without requiring knowledge of all its concrete implementations. This improvement streamlines collaboration, reduces duplication, and enhances the flexibility of Apollo Federation.

Apollo's February 2023 changelog highlights key updates, including support for operation scripts in Apollo Studio, serverless supergraphs on AWS Lambda using SAM, and a publication about caching strategies at Wayfair. The latest versions of Rover, Apollo Router, and Apollo iOS have also been released with bug fixes and maintenance changes. Additionally, the official JetBrains GraphQL plugin now supports Federation 2, while an Apollo success story was featured in the ATOM podcast discussing Meetup's implementation of Apollo Kotlin.

The Apollo Trust Center is a single source of truth for Apollo's security, compliance, reliability, and legal documentation. It provides a wide variety of documentation, including SOC 2 reports, security questionnaires, and reliability metrics, making it easier for customers to evaluate and maintain their trust in the platform. The Trust Center also offers information on compliance and security measures, such as vulnerability patching and Business Continuity Plans, and features a Reliability page that explains how Apollo approaches matters like failovers and backups. Additionally, the Trust Center includes a Legal page with information on legal and privacy compliance, including GDPR and CCPA requirements. The platform is designed to help customers onboard Apollo securely and maintain its security health over time.

Apollo's February 2023 Changelog highlights upcoming events like GraphQL Summit 2023 and a tutorial on building a supergraph on Kubernetes. The company is also hosting a livestream about deploying Python subgraphs on AWS Lambda, followed by another one using Apollo Server and TypeScript. Additionally, the team shares insights into the future of GraphQL routing and provides tech notes on load testing for distributed systems and server-driven UIs. Updates include improvements to Apollo Client 3.7.6 and 3.7.7, a new version of Router with numerous features, and community spotlights featuring contributions from Victoria Lo and Tejas Shikhare.