The State of GraphQL Clients in 2023
summary
Survey data from 2022 shows GraphQL Hooks surprisingly topping client popularity, with Apollo scoring high on satisfaction but dragging bundle size and extensibility, and graphql-request (Prisma) acting as a thin fetch wrapper. React-query often handles GraphQL like REST, while Relay uses a Relay compiler to merge component fragments into one query, populate a central data store, and reuse fragments to reduce overfetching. Code generation sometimes removes the need for a heavy client; choice depends on bundle, caching, and reuse tradeoffs.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00GraphQL clients intro
- 1:16Popular clients overview
- 3:06No client approach
- 4:33GraphQL Request alternative
- 5:37React Query for data
- 7:44Advanced clients comparison
- 8:45Why Relay is undervalued
- 11:36Relay’s compiler benefits
- 13:20Code generation necessity
- 14:22Choosing the right client
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