According to a Forrester report commissioned by Adobe, “Decision makers don’t consider digital document processes as a ‘point solution’ anymore but as an integral part of their organization’s IT landscape.” The report illustrates that “65% of respondents say integrating digital document processes with everyday productivity applications is very important or a critical requirement.” At a time when 328.77 million terabytes of data are created each day, file access and collaboration become paramount to the business process and beacons the need for enterprise content management (ECM), a key component of intelligent automation solutions.

ECM tools capture, manage, store and deliver content and documents. They ensure that information is easily accessible and helpful throughout the content lifecycle. In addition, ECM tools give everyone in the organization easy access to the information necessary to make decisions, complete projects and work efficiently. Machine learning, cloud-based services and mobile capabilities present new business content management challenges. However, the right ECM system will help automate processes, increase productivity and improve collaboration.

Sharing content means that ECM integration is not an afterthought — it’s critical for enabling consistency, collaboration and streamlining the entire data interaction process. However, over the years, two distinct application programming interface (API) camps emerged for ECM integrations: GraphQL and REST (an acronym for REpresentational State Transfer). This article, backed by research and practice, will examine why GraphQL has become preferred over REST APIs.

REST APIs vs. GraphQL

Suppose you want to interact with an application to retrieve information or perform a function. An API allows you to communicate effectively by creating a request and response between the modern web client and server or a microservice. The application submitting the request is the client, and the server or service responds. For example, the API design for a weather service could specify that the user supplies a zip code and that the service replies with the high and low temperatures for that specific area.

Compared to REST APIs, GraphQL offers a more efficient approach to specifying and retrieving data without wasting network resources and bandwidth. Although REST APIs are considered the “backbone of the internet,” they have disadvantages.

Among the criticisms are:

● Over-Fetching and Under-Fetching Data: The over-fetching limitation promotes wasted bandwidth and processing resources, while under-fetching causes additional data requests because all the requested information is unavailable in a single REST endpoint request.
● Multiple Round Trips: Frequently, REST APIs require numerous trips to the server to retrieve data. The yo-yo activity increases latency, impacts response times and hampers the efficiency of content retrieval operations.
● Lack of Flexibility in Data Retrieval and Manipulation: Traditional APIs usually expose predefined endpoints and fixed data structures, limiting the flexibility for retrieving and manipulating content. This lack of flexibility poses challenges when specific data needs or transformations arise.
● Architecture Limitations: There are no standards for implementing REST APIs, there are guidelines for the architectural style. Traditional APIs are often built on monolithic architectures, where all functionalities and data access are tightly coupled. This restricts the ability to scale and evolve individual components independently, hindering agility and innovation.

GraphQL, developed at Facebook, is an open-source data query and manipulation language for APIs. GraphQL effectively pulls information using a single query, saving bandwidth and reducing multiple cascading requests. With optimized content delivery, seamless integrations and enhanced developer productivity, GraphQL empowers enterprises to unlock the full potential of their content systems, providing a competitive edge.

GraphQL enables declarative data fetching, where a client can specify what data is needed from an API. Instead of multiple endpoints that return separate data, a GraphQL server exposes a single endpoint and responds precisely to the client’s requested data. Because a GraphQL server can fetch from individual data sources and present the data in a unified graph, it is not tied to any specific database or storage engine.

REST vs. GraphQL: The Consolidated Differences

● REST is a set of rules that defines structured data exchange between a client and a server. GraphQL is a query language, architecture style and tools for creating and manipulating APIs.
● REST suits simple data sources with well-defined resources, while GraphQL is suitable for large, complex and interrelated data sources.
● REST has multiple endpoints in the form of URLs to define resources. GraphQL has a single URL endpoint.
● REST returns data in a fixed structure defined by the server. GraphQL returns data in a flexible structure defined by the client.
● REST data is “weakly typed,” so the client must decide how to interpret the formatted data when returned. GraphQL data is “strongly typed,” the client receives data in predetermined and mutually understood formats.

In a side-by-side comparison, GraphQL is a superior choice for content management over REST API. GraphQL’s efficiency, flexibility and enhanced developer experience are advantages and potential game-changers for your organization. Adopting GraphQL opens up possibilities for managing and delivering content more effectively.

Conclusion

In a survey of 450 senior IT and business decision-makers based in North America, Europe and APAC responsible for digital document processes at their organizations, 61% said that adopting digital document process tools was either “very important” or a “critical requirement.” ECM meets these requirements by automating processes and increasing productivity. However, selecting APIs to ensure these benefits can profoundly impact the quality of your document management.

Over time, it has become clear that developers prefer GraphQL over REST APIs for web client interfaces to deliver and use content more effectively. For instance, companies like Netflix and Shopify have successfully adopted GraphQL for their content management needs, improving efficiency and customer satisfaction. Making the correct choice could be the difference between satisfied end-users and the DevOps team receiving an avalanche of trouble tickets.