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What is GraphQL? A Practical Definition

2026-07-283 min read

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What is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs where the client specifies exactly which fields it needs in a single request, instead of hitting multiple fixed REST endpoints. This avoids over-fetching and under-fetching data, at the cost of more complex server-side query resolution and caching.

Example

{ user(id: 42) { name email } } requests only the name and email fields.

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