Highlights of GraphQL Day at Apidays Paris

The GraphQL community recently gathered in Paris for a significant event, GraphQL Day, which was part of the Apidays conference series that took place December 6 to 8, 2023. This collaborative initiative, in partnership with the GraphQL Foundation, united enthusiasts, developers, and industry experts to explore the collective potential of GraphQL technology. Postman, a dedicated member of the GraphQL Foundation, was represented at the event, particularly at the GraphQL Foundation booth.

The GraphQL Foundation booth was a highlight of the event, and it was a great example of the spirit of collaboration as representatives of different tooling vendors came together and engaged attendees in insightful discussions. Esteemed speakers and participants brought diverse perspectives, enriching the conversations and underscoring the importance of community-driven events like GraphQL Day at Apidays Paris.

In this blog post, we’ll explore a few key highlights, insights, and meaningful takeaways from GraphQL Day’s inclusive and community-centric gathering.

Key highlights: talks and takeaways

Here are key highlights and takeaways from various talks presented at this year’s insightful GraphQL Day at Apidays.

“Not Your Grandma’s Rate Limiting”

In this talk, I examined the complex nature of rate limiting in GraphQL APIs. Unlike traditional REST APIs, where rate limiting is based on the number of requests, GraphQL’s flexibility allows a single endpoint to handle diverse queries, which presents unique challenges. Attendees gained insights into various intricate rate-limiting strategies customized for GraphQL APIs. You can explore the slides for the presentation here.

“GraphQL Nullability, State of the Union”

Related: GraphQL vs. REST

This talk by Martin Bonnin from Apollo GraphQL discussed null handling in GraphQL. Although GraphQL has a powerful type system and introspection capabilities, null handling can still be confusing. The session explored how languages like Rust, Swift, and Kotlin have sometimes differed from GraphQL’s null handling since its inception in 2012. The talk focused on defining the null handling problem within GraphQL and highlighted potential tradeoffs and solutions embraced by the community. Additionally, it shed light on the challenges of differentiating between error nulls, semantic nulls, and a blend of both within the GraphQL ecosystem. You can watch the recording of the talk here.

“How to Not Break Your GraphQL Clients”

Pascal Senn from Chilli Cream delivered a compelling session at GraphQL Day, focusing on the challenges inherent in maintaining a stable GraphQL schema across applications with multiple clients. The talk emphasized the critical role of schema and client registries in managing schema changes seamlessly across various environments without disrupting existing client applications. You can watch the recording of the talk here.

Wrapping up

GraphQL Day at Apidays Paris provided a collaborative space for industry experts to come together and address key challenges, share insights, and contribute to the ongoing evolution of the GraphQL ecosystem.