The Decision Matrix: REST vs GraphQL ⚖️

CHOOSE REST WHEN:

# Your data needs are SIMPLE and PREDICTABLE
"Every client needs roughly the same data shape"

# Examples:
- Blog posts with title, content, author
- User profiles with name, email, avatar  
- Product catalog with name, price, image
- Simple CRUD apps where endpoints map to resources

CHOOSE GRAPHQL WHEN:

# Your data needs are COMPLEX and VARIED
"Different clients need wildly different data combinations"

# Examples:
- Mobile app needs minimal data, admin dashboard needs everything
- Frontend teams want to iterate fast without backend changes
- You have deep nested relationships (users → orders → products → reviews)
- Multiple clients (web, mobile, IoT) with different data requirements

---

Stellar Café Real Examples ☕

REST Makes Sense Here:

# Menu management system
GET /menu-items          # Admin needs all fields
GET /menu-items/123      # POS system needs all fields  
POST /menu-items         # Always creates full menu items

# ❓ Why REST? Everyone needs the same complete menu data

GraphQL Makes Sense Here:

# Customer facing apps
query MobileApp {
  menuItems {
    name
    price
    image
    # Mobile: small, fast, minimal data
  }
}

query KioskDisplay {
  menuItems {
    name
    price
    image
    description
    ingredients { name, allergens }
    # Kiosk: more details for decision making
  }
}

query AdminDashboard {
  menuItems {
    name, price, cost, margin, inventory
    salesData { lastWeek, trend }
    supplier { name, contact }
    # Admin: everything including business metrics
  }
}

❓ Why GraphQL? Each client needs different data shapes

---

The Team Dynamics Matter 👥

REST Team:

BACKEND: "We control the API contract"
FRONTEND: "We have to wait for backend to add fields"
→ Slower frontend iteration
→ More coordination overhead

GraphQL Team:

BACKEND: "We expose the data graph"
FRONTEND: "We query what we need, when we need it"  
→ Faster frontend iteration
→ Less coordination needed

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Performance Reality Check 🚀

REST Wins When:

# Simple, cacheable requests
GET /menu-items
# ✅ CDN caching works great
# ✅ Browser caching works great
# ✅ Simple to understand

GraphQL Wins When:

# Complex, nested data needs
"Give me user's recent orders with product details and review stats"
# ✅ Single round trip vs 5+ REST calls
# ✅ No over-fetching (mobile data savings)
# ✅ Precise data shaping

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The “You’ll Know It When You See It” Test 👀

Ask your team:

“If we add a new field to the database, how many places need to change?”

REST Answer:

1. Backend: Add field to serializer
2. Update API documentation
3. Frontend: Update client code to use new field
4. Mobile: Update app to use new field
# Coordination across multiple teams

GraphQL Answer:

1. Backend: Add field to schema
2. Frontend/Mobile: Use it whenever they want
# No coordination needed

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#Dab’s Simple Rule of Thumb 🌿📏

Start with REST if:

• Your app is simple CRUD
• Your team is small
• Your data needs are consistent across clients
• You want simplicity and established patterns

Switch to GraphQL when:

• You hear “we need another API endpoint for the mobile app”
• Frontend developers are waiting on backend changes
• Your API responses have lots of unused fields
• You’re making multiple API calls to render one page

The tipping point is usually when coordination overhead becomes more expensive than GraphQL complexity.

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Bottom Line ⚡

REST = “Here are the predefined data packages we offer”
GraphQL = “Here’s our data kitchen—tell us exactly what you want cooked”

You don’t need GraphQL until you feel the pain that REST can’t solve efficiently.

That’s the real distinction. 🎯

Pass the knowledge, not the stress. - #Dab 🌿💻

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