GraphQL at Scale - Panel Discussion

GraphQL at Scale refers to the capability of GraphQL technology to handle scalability across various dimensions such as technical scalability (managing larger technical loads), product scalability (handling more products or product variability), and team scalability (expanding teams in size, geography, skills, etc.).

GraphQL can significantly influence scalability by allowing flexible and efficient data interaction, which can adapt as the requirements of different clients and products evolve over time. This flexibility supports the scaling of clients that change over time without requiring constant versioning or server changes.

Notable contributors include Dan Schaefer, a co-creator of GraphQL and Facebook Engineering Director, Nick Schrock, also a co-creator and founder of Elemental, and Tanmay Gopal, CEO of Hasura, who focuses on technologies like React, GraphQL, and Kubernetes.

Apollo Federation allows different teams or lines of business to maintain autonomy while contributing to a unified GraphQL schema. This approach helps manage and scale complex systems by defining how different parts of a schema relate to each other, supporting a cohesive yet flexible architecture.

Handling errors in GraphQL is complex due to its nature of potentially returning partial data along with errors. This behavior is different from traditional APIs that use standard HTTP status codes, making it challenging to integrate with existing monitoring tools that rely on these codes.

GraphQL enables a healthier interaction between server-side and client-side engineers by allowing server-side engineers to publish a schema that client-side engineers can consume. This setup promotes a clear separation of concerns and efficient collaboration across different roles.