REST and GraphQL: Adventures in Schema-First API Development - DevConf.US 2024

Explore the evolution and architecture of Pyxis, a high-traffic API offering both REST and GraphQL interfaces, in this DevConf.US 2024 conference talk. Delve into the challenges faced during the transition from a small REST application to a complex system with multiple schemas, and discover how the team embraced schema-first principles and automation to streamline development. Learn about generating API and validation schemas, documentation, testing data, and database index specifications from a single opinionated schema. Gain insights into adopting and maintaining GraphQL, its progression from an experimental layer to the authoritative API layer, and strategies for modernizing applications without service interruptions or API breakages. Benefit from this talk with basic REST and GraphQL knowledge, ideal for those interested in API design and schema-first approaches.

Intro
Agenda
Pixes
Schema first approach
Documentation
Lessons Learned
How we build REST
Questions