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GraphQL API (Apollo Federation)

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description GraphQL API (Apollo Federation) Overview

GraphQL itself is a query language, but its implementation via federation (like Apollo) is a powerful API pattern. It allows frontend clients to request exactly the data they need from multiple underlying microservices through a single, unified endpoint. This solves the 'over-fetching' problem inherent in REST when dealing with complex data graphs.

help GraphQL API (Apollo Federation) FAQ

What is an Apollo Federation subgraph?

A subgraph is a GraphQL API owned by one service or domain team. Apollo Router combines multiple subgraph schemas into a supergraph that clients query through one graph endpoint.

How can two subgraphs contribute fields to the same entity?

Federation identifies shared entities with directives such as @key. One subgraph can define an entity while another resolves additional fields for the same key.

Does Apollo Federation eliminate REST calls between services?

No. Subgraphs can retrieve data from REST APIs, databases, queues, or other GraphQL services, and internal service communication may still be necessary.

What does Apollo Router do that Apollo Gateway did not?

Apollo Router is the newer high-performance runtime written in Rust for planning and executing federated queries. Apollo Gateway is the earlier Node.js implementation and remains a distinct deployment choice.

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