Apache Thrift vs GraphQL: What are the differences?

Introduction

This article provides a comparison between Apache Thrift and GraphQL, highlighting their key differences.

1. Declarative vs. Imperative: One of the fundamental differences between Thrift and GraphQL is their approach in defining APIs. Thrift follows an imperative approach where the API is defined using an IDL (Interface Definition Language) and strict contracts are enforced. On the other hand, GraphQL takes a declarative approach where the API is defined using a schema and clients can request the specific data they need.

2. Type System: Thrift and GraphQL have different type systems. Thrift supports a fixed set of primitive types and allows the definition of complex data structures using structs and unions. GraphQL, on the other hand, has a flexible and extensible type system which allows defining custom scalar types, enums, interfaces, and unions.

3. Transport Protocol: Thrift uses a binary protocol for data serialization and transportation, resulting in more efficient data transfer with smaller payload size. On the contrary, GraphQL uses HTTP as a transport protocol and the data is typically serialized and transmitted using JSON. This makes GraphQL more accessible and easier to integrate with existing web technologies.

4. Data Fetching: In Thrift, the server-side defines the available data endpoints, and the client must adhere to those endpoints to fetch the data. In GraphQL, the client has the flexibility to specify the fields and nested data it needs, reducing the over-fetching or under-fetching issues commonly seen in traditional REST APIs.

5. Efficiency: Thrift is known for its efficiency when it comes to serialization, deserialization, and network transfer, as it leverages a binary protocol. On the other hand, GraphQL introduces a higher level of abstraction, making it less efficient in terms of network transfer and serialization compared to Thrift.

6. Ecosystem and Adoption: Apache Thrift has been around longer and has a larger ecosystem with support from various programming languages. Thrift is widely used and has been adopted by large companies for building scalable and high-performance APIs, often in distributed systems. GraphQL, although relatively newer, has gained significant popularity with its focus on front-end development and has an active community, making it a promising choice for modern web applications.

In summary, Thrift and GraphQL differ in their approach to API definition, type system, transport protocol, data fetching flexibility, efficiency, and ecosystem/adoption status.