My Opinion: The Future of API Design – REST, GraphQL, or RPC?

Published on: 2024-06-12

📝 Introduction

APIs are the backbone of modern development. Every project I’ve worked on – whether frontend, backend, or automation – eventually depends on how APIs are designed and consumed. Lately, I’ve been thinking about where API design is headed.

🌐 REST – The Reliable Standard

What it is:
REST is simple, predictable, and works well with HTTP conventions.

My perspective:
For many CRUD applications, REST is still enough. But it struggles with overfetching and underfetching data. I’ve seen frontends needing multiple REST calls just to render a single view, adding unnecessary latency and complexity.

🗂️ GraphQL – The Data Aggregator

What it is:
GraphQL solves REST’s inefficiencies by allowing clients to fetch exactly what they need in one request.

My perspective:
GraphQL empowers frontend teams to control data shape. But it comes with trade-offs: complex caching, trickier rate limiting, and misuse as “REST with POST” defeating its purpose.

🔗 RPC – The Lightweight Connector

What it is:
RPC is like calling functions remotely, ideal for internal microservice communication (e.g. tRPC, gRPC).

My perspective:
It’s efficient for internal services where resource-oriented design is unnecessary. But publicly exposing RPC can tightly couple frontend and backend without strict versioning or contracts.

🔄 My Conclusion – The Hybrid Future

The future of API design isn’t about choosing REST, GraphQL, or RPC exclusively. It’s about knowing when to use each wisely:

✅ REST: Simple public resource-based APIs
✅ GraphQL: Client-driven data aggregation
✅ RPC: Internal microservice communication

Regardless of approach, clear documentation, versioning, and deprecation strategies remain critical. The best API is the one your team understands, maintains, and scales without confusion.

📊 Graph: API Design Decision Overview