Schema First, Code First, or Both? Adopting Schema First Development
summary
Expedia Group shifts from pure code-first to a hybrid that reviews SDL in a monorepo, runs GraphQL Inspector and graphql-eslint, then uses GraphQL Codegen to run a custom graph-kotlin-cen plugin that generates Kotlin types and interfaces for GraphQL Kotlin so the approved SDL drives implementation. The pipeline prevents divergence with generated resolver interfaces to catch signature mismatches and avoid overfetching, removes 3,000 lines of code and cuts schema-change merge time by about two days across 70 services and 1,000+ contributors.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction and context
- 2:00Defining approaches
- 5:07Inclusive schema design
- 8:22Ensuring quality and consistency
- 12:56Automating with code generation
- 17:46Solving implementation issues
- 22:09Benefits and summary
- 25:18Q&A and closing
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