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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Languages
  4. Query Languages
  5. GraphQL vs Redux

GraphQL vs Redux

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

GraphQL
GraphQL
Stacks34.9K
Followers28.1K
Votes309
Redux
Redux
Stacks32.0K
Followers23.6K
Votes674

GraphQL vs Redux: What are the differences?

GraphQL and Redux are both popular technologies used in web development. While they serve different purposes, they have key differences that make them unique and suitable for different scenarios.
  1. Query Language vs. State Manager: The most fundamental difference between GraphQL and Redux lies in their core functionalities. GraphQL is a query language for APIs, enabling clients to request and retrieve data from a server with a single request. It focuses on optimizing data retrieval and reducing over-fetching and under-fetching. On the other hand, Redux is a state management library for JavaScript applications. It provides a centralized store to manage the state of an application and allows components to access and modify the state using actions and reducers.

  2. Flexibility vs. Structure: Another significant difference is the level of flexibility and structure provided by GraphQL and Redux. GraphQL offers a highly flexible and dynamic approach to data fetching, where clients can request exactly the data they need and receive it in a predefined structure. It allows clients to specify the shape of the data in the request itself. In contrast, Redux provides a more structured and predictable way of managing application state. It follows a unidirectional data flow pattern, where actions trigger state changes in the store, and components subscribe to the store to receive updates.

  3. Server-side vs. Client-side: GraphQL primarily operates on the server-side, serving as a middle layer between clients and data sources. It abstracts the complexities of data fetching and provides a unified interface for clients to interact with different data sources. On the other hand, Redux is primarily a client-side library, managing the state of the application within the browser or runtime environment. It focuses on efficient state updates and propagation to the UI components.

  4. Optimized for Network Efficiency vs. Improved Performance: GraphQL is built to optimize network efficiency by minimizing unnecessary data transfers. With GraphQL, clients can precisely specify the required data, eliminating over-fetching and reducing the payload size. This minimizes the amount of data transferred over the network, resulting in faster response times. On the contrary, Redux focuses on improving application performance by offering efficient state updates and minimizing unnecessary re-renders. It ensures that UI components only update when the corresponding state changes, avoiding unnecessary computations.

  5. Real-time Updates vs. Time Travel Debugging: GraphQL supports real-time updates through subscriptions, allowing clients to receive data in real-time as it changes on the server. This is especially useful for applications that require real-time data, such as chat applications or live dashboards. Redux, on the other hand, offers time travel debugging, which allows developers to replay application state changes and debug issues. It provides a powerful tool for understanding how the application state evolves over time and identifying bugs or regressions.

  6. Schema-Driven Development vs. Explicit Data Flow: GraphQL promotes schema-driven development, where the server defines a schema that describes the available data and operations. Clients can then introspect the schema and generate code or use tools to build queries and mutations. This enables a high level of flexibility and automation. In contrast, Redux emphasizes an explicit data flow, where developers manually define actions and reducers to modify the application state. It provides fine-grained control over state updates and makes it easier to reason about the data flow in the application.

In summary, GraphQL is a query language for APIs focused on network efficiency and flexibility, while Redux is a state management library that provides structure and predictable state management in client-side applications.

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Detailed Comparison

GraphQL
GraphQL
Redux
Redux

GraphQL is a data query language and runtime designed and used at Facebook to request and deliver data to mobile and web apps since 2012.

It helps you write applications that behave consistently, run in different environments (client, server, and native), and are easy to test. t provides a great experience, such as live code editing combined with a time traveling debugger.

Hierarchical;Product-centric;Client-specified queries;Backwards Compatible;Structured, Arbitrary Code;Application-Layer Protocol;Strongly-typed;Introspective
Predictable state; Easy testing; Works with other view layers besides React
Statistics
Stacks
34.9K
Stacks
32.0K
Followers
28.1K
Followers
23.6K
Votes
309
Votes
674
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 75
    Schemas defined by the requests made by the user
  • 63
    Will replace RESTful interfaces
  • 62
    The future of API's
  • 49
    The future of databases
  • 12
    Self-documenting
Cons
  • 4
    More code to type.
  • 4
    Hard to migrate from GraphQL to another technology
  • 2
    Takes longer to build compared to schemaless.
  • 1
    Works just like any other API at runtime
  • 1
    All the pros sound like NFT pitches
Pros
  • 191
    State is predictable
  • 150
    Plays well with React and others
  • 126
    State stored in a single object tree
  • 79
    Hot reloading out of the box
  • 74
    Allows for time travel
Cons
  • 13
    Lots of boilerplate
  • 6
    Verbose
  • 5
    Design
  • 5
    Steep learning curve
  • 4
    Steeper learning curve than MobX
Integrations
No integrations available
JavaScript
JavaScript
React
React

What are some alternatives to GraphQL, Redux?

MobX

MobX

MobX is a battle tested library that makes state management simple and scalable by transparently applying functional reactive programming (TFRP). React and MobX together are a powerful combination. React renders the application state by providing mechanisms to translate it into a tree of renderable components. MobX provides the mechanism to store and update the application state that React then uses.

Prisma

Prisma

Prisma is an open-source database toolkit. It replaces traditional ORMs and makes database access easy with an auto-generated query builder for TypeScript & Node.js.

PostGraphile

PostGraphile

Execute one command (or mount one Node.js middleware) and get an instant high-performance GraphQL API for your PostgreSQL database

OData

OData

It is an ISO/IEC approved, OASIS standard that defines a set of best practices for building and consuming RESTful APIs. It helps you focus on your business logic while building RESTful APIs without having to worry about the various approaches to define request and response headers, status codes, HTTP methods, URL conventions, media types, payload formats, query options, etc.

Zustand

Zustand

Small, fast and scaleable bearbones state-management solution. Has a comfy api based on hooks, that isn't boilerplatey or opinionated, but still just enough to be explicit and flux-like.

Effector

Effector

It is an effective multi-store state manager for Javascript apps, that allows you to manage data in complex applications.

Oracle PL/SQL

Oracle PL/SQL

It is a powerful, yet straightforward database programming language. It is easy to both write and read, and comes packed with lots of out-of-the-box optimizations and security features.

redux-saga

redux-saga

An alternative side effect model for Redux apps

vuex

vuex

Vuex is a state management pattern + library for Vue.js applications. It serves as a centralized store for all the components in an application, with rules ensuring that the state can only be mutated in a predictable fashion. It also integrates with Vue's official devtools extension to provide advanced features such as zero-config time-travel debugging and state snapshot export / import.

redux-thunk

redux-thunk

Redux Thunk middleware allows you to write action creators that return a function instead of an action. The thunk can be used to delay the dispatch of an action, or to dispatch only if a certain condition is met. The inner function receives the store methods dispatch and getState as parameters.

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