REST, GraphQL, and gRPC: A Comparison
summary
Compares REST, GraphQL and gRPC using a simple user CRUD dataset, proto3 files and .NET tooling (grpc.tools, protoc) and shows gRPC running over HTTP/2 streaming and multiplexing with unary, client/server and bidi streams, protobuf messages that are 30–40% smaller payloads vs JSON, and limited browser support without grpc‑web. Contrasts REST’s resource/URI model, HATEOAS and Richardson levels with GraphQL’s typed schema, queries, mutations and subscriptions and highlights introspection/self-documenting schema, persisted queries, tooling (Swagger, Postman, GraphiQL, Hot Chocolate, BloomRPC, gRPC UI) and poll split: ~80% REST, 14% gRPC, 4% GraphQL.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00API paradigms comparison
- 3:39Understanding gRPC
- 19:18gRPC streaming features
- 24:40REST architectural style
- 31:25REST myths and realities
- 35:17HATEOAS and maturity model
- 41:17GraphQL query language
- 55:47GraphQL pros and cons
- 1:02:14Use cases comparison
- 1:05:32Q&A summary
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