GraphQL Queries vs. Mutations: What’s the Difference and When to Use Them

Any time that one is working with GraphQL, especially in application development, he or she must understand Queries and Mutations. These two operations will determine how to fetch or update data in a given GraphQL API. First let’s compare generic types versus RLI and although at first sight they act in a similar way, they differ in their function.

Here, I will explain the basics of what GraphQL queries and mutations are, how they are executed, the differences between them and when it is more suitable to use which.

Here is where we introduce the concept of the GraphQL queries that are used mostly in order to get data from a server. You should imagine them as GET requests in REST APIs despite the fact that they do not modify the data they query.

• Specific Data Retrieval : A client may require a particular field, which he may desire from the database.
• Organization and Hierarchy : Codd’s rules allow nested data support where the related information can be obtained by a single request.
• Efficient & Flexible : Fetch multiple resources with a single query.

A mutation is a mechanism of updating data on the server side and comes in handy when creating records, updating or deleting records. It is almost similar to the POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE requests in the REST APIs.

• Data Modification : Enables a client to be capable of passing modifications to the server
• Real-time Feedback : Returns the updated data after the mutation.
• Batch Operations : Perform multiple updates in one request.

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