After years of programming, I am convinced that complexity cannot be overcome. For any non-trivial application, complexity is inevitable. In my view, we, as de

After years of programming, I am convinced that complexity cannot be overcome. For any non-trivial application, complexity is inevitable. In my view, we, as developers, should take up complexity, so that the user is unburdened from it. Ultimately, that is the value addition of software. Remove complexity and improve productivity. Fundamentally, data is relational and hierarchical, no matter how we store it (Documents / SQL). The value added by GraphQL, and often touted in documentation, is that the client, has control over the shape of the data received from the server. Though packaged in a slightly easier to read syntax, GraphQL is essentially SQL. Sending a GQL query is fundamentally sending an SQL query set, with joins and where clauses, and having a layer of abstraction that understands the query and converts it into lower levels calls to data storage systems. In my view, this is a more powerful syntax and more flexible than using a REST API. To achieve the same with REST calls, you would have to do something akin to multiple simpler SQL queries, with manual linking of relational data. I am sure, there will be more innovation in this area, particularly with pairin GQL with Document databases.