Scott Moss
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Course Description
Learn everything you need to create a GraphQL API on the server in Node.js with Apollo Server. You'll start with a schema that includes type definitions, queries, and mutations. Then, build the resolvers needed to get the values for the API. Finally, move onto advanced features like interfaces and unions, all the way down to how relationships work in resolvers.
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Published: November 25, 2019
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Section Duration: 26 minutes
Scott Moss defines GraphQL as a declarative query language, explains how GraphQL works both on the client and the server side.
Scott explains that in order to create a GraphQL server, a schema must first be created using a schema definition language, or SDL, and reviews the basic parts of a schema.
Scott demonstrates how to build a basic GraphQL server by coding typeDefs, resolvers, and an Apollo server. The goal of this section is to demonstrate the simple way GraphQL functions before diving into more detailed explanations.
Queries & Resolvers
Section Duration: 49 minutes
Scott defines query types as object types, and demonstrates how to build a query. Questions from the audience about syntax and the use of queries are also answered.
Scott defines resolvers as functions responsible for returning values for fields on a type, and explains that to create a server with GraphQL a query type with a field and a resolver for that field are needed.
After Scott walks through the code repository and specifies which files will be updated over the course of the workshop, students are instructed to create a query type based off an array.
Scott live codes the solution to the query types exercise.
Scott explains that each field has its own resolver, demonstrates what default resolvers are, and answers questions from the audience about top level and field specific resolvers.
Arguments & Input Types
Section Duration: 32 minutes
Scott explains that arguments allow clients to pass variables along with queries, and that they can be used in resolvers to get data. Arguments must be defined in the schema, but can be added to any field.
Scott defines input types as types for arguments, and how all the fields in input types can be other input types or scholars.
Scott demonstrates how to code a type, an input type, how to query a type, and how to add arguments to a resolver.
Students are instructed to create an input type, add arguments to queries, and use arguments in the query field resolvers to filter data. Scott answers questions from the audience about querying.
Scott live codes the solution to the arguments and input type exercise.
Mutations
Section Duration: 19 minutes
Scott explains that a mutation is a type on a schema that defines operations clients can perform to create, update, or delete data.
Students are instructed to define a mutation type in the schema, add fields to the mutation type, create input types or mutation field arguments and create resolvers for the mutation fields.
Scott live codes the solution to the mutation exercise.
Advanced SDL
Section Duration: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Scott explains that enums are a set of discrete values that allow limiting a field to a few different options, and demonstrates how to add an enum to a type.
Scott explains that if there are two or more types with common fields, an interface allows types to share fields, and allows the client to make one query instead of multiple when looking for a field. An interface can resolve all the types that belongs to it.
Scott answers questions from the audience regarding interfaces and data sources, how to uncover the type of a type, and the GraphQL syntax.
Scott explains that unions are similar to interfaces, because they give access to types. However, unlike interfaces, they can access types that have no fields in common with a single query. Questions from the audience are answered.
Scott explains that in GraphQL, APIs are set of nodes linked to other nodes, and defines a relationship to be adding a type as a field value on another type.
Scott demonstrates how to use field level resolvers to write relationships between types.
Students are instructed to add new fields on types that reference other types and create resolvers for field types that point to other types.
Scott live codes the first part of the solution to the relationships exercise by first adding new fields to different types.
Scott continues to live code the solution to the relationships exercise by adding field resolvers, and making the querying of data possible.
Scott answers questions from the audience regarding queries in GraphQL, field level resolvers, and the rthe order queries run in.
Scott demonstrates how to add authentication to an Apollo server, and explains that the level of authentication depends on what needs to be protected within the schema. Request level caching to avoid querying the database each time is also discussed.
Wrapping Up
Section Duration: 6 minutes
Scott answers questions about concurrency, resolvers, and GraphQL gateways, shares open source projects using GraphQL (Prisma Hesura, GraphQL yoga etc.), and wraps up the course.
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