REST vs GraphQL awareness in Express - Hands-On Comparison

REST vs GraphQL Awareness with Express

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Express server to understand the difference between REST and GraphQL APIs. This will help you see how data can be requested and served in two different ways.

🎯 Goal: Create an Express server that has one REST endpoint and one GraphQL endpoint. The REST endpoint will return a list of books, and the GraphQL endpoint will allow querying the same books with flexible fields.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an array called books with 3 book objects, each having id, title, and author properties

Create a variable called port set to 4000

Create a REST GET endpoint at /books that returns the books array as JSON

Set up a GraphQL schema with a Book type and a books query that returns the list of books

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

APIs are how apps talk to each other. REST and GraphQL are two popular ways to build APIs. Understanding both helps you choose the right tool for your project.

💼 Career

Many jobs require building or working with APIs. Knowing REST and GraphQL basics is essential for backend and full-stack developers.

1

DATA SETUP: Create the books array

Create an array called books with these exact 3 objects: { id: 1, title: '1984', author: 'George Orwell' }, { id: 2, title: 'The Hobbit', author: 'J.R.R. Tolkien' }, and { id: 3, title: 'Fahrenheit 451', author: 'Ray Bradbury' }.

Express

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use const books = [ ... ] with the exact objects inside.

2

CONFIGURATION: Set the server port

Create a variable called port and set it to 4000.

Express

const books = [
  { id: 1, title: '1984', author: 'George Orwell' },
  { id: 2, title: 'The Hobbit', author: 'J.R.R. Tolkien' },
  { id: 3, title: 'Fahrenheit 451', author: 'Ray Bradbury' }
];

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use const port = 4000; to set the port number.

3

CORE LOGIC: Create the REST GET endpoint

Create an Express app with const app = express(). Then add a GET endpoint at /books that sends the books array as JSON using res.json(books).

Express

const books = [
  { id: 1, title: '1984', author: 'George Orwell' },
  { id: 2, title: 'The Hobbit', author: 'J.R.R. Tolkien' },
  { id: 3, title: 'Fahrenheit 451', author: 'Ray Bradbury' }
];

const port = 4000;

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use const app = express() and app.get('/books', (req, res) => res.json(books)).

4

COMPLETION: Add GraphQL schema and endpoint

Import graphqlHTTP from express-graphql and buildSchema from graphql. Create a GraphQL schema with a Book type having id, title, and author fields. Add a books query returning the list of books. Then add a GraphQL endpoint at /graphql using app.use with graphqlHTTP, passing the schema and a root resolver that returns books. Finally, start the server listening on port with app.listen(port).

Express

const express = require('express');
const books = [
  { id: 1, title: '1984', author: 'George Orwell' },
  { id: 2, title: 'The Hobbit', author: 'J.R.R. Tolkien' },
  { id: 3, title: 'Fahrenheit 451', author: 'Ray Bradbury' }
];

const port = 4000;

const app = express();

app.get('/books', (req, res) => {
  res.json(books);
});

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use buildSchema to define the schema and graphqlHTTP middleware for the /graphql route.