🥊 Code-first vs. schema-first development in GraphQL

— 1 minute read

I wrote my third article for the LogRocket Blog, where I explain my journey on conceptualizing, designing and implementing a GraphQL server, as I have done for GraphQL by PoP:

Code-first vs. schema-first development in GraphQL

This article describes the 2 approaches to implementing a GraphQL server:

  • Schema-first: we first define the schema for the GraphQL service using the Schema Definition Language (or SDL) and then we implement the code by matching the definitions in the schema
  • Code-first: we start by coding the resolvers, and then, from code as a single source of truth, we have the schema generated as an artifact

In the article I compare both approaches, listing down the advantages and drawbacks of each, recommending when to use one or the other, and finally expressing why I prefer the code-first approach since it enables to support a myriad of features in GraphQL by PoP which would not be feasible otherwise.

This is an ongoing series, and coming soon will be more article on the different strategies employed to tackle all different concerns: decentralization, federation, security, and others.

Enjoy!