---
title: "Understanding GraphQL for Beginners–Part One"
description: "The article introduces GraphQL as an open-source data query and manipulation language for APIs, contrasting it with REST's fixed response shapes and multiple endpoint calls. GraphQL lets clients describe exactly which fields they need, returning that requested structure through a single endpoint rather than a cookie-cutter response. Using a Toronto Eagles example, the article explains how one GraphQL query can combine requests for a team's founding year, captain's name, and last championship, avoiding three separate RESTful trips whose latency can vary. It also uses burger and bank withdrawal analogies to explain over-fetching, under-fetching, flexible frontend iteration, and fewer endpoints, then points readers to a forthcoming Ruby on Rails implementation in part two."
---

# Understanding GraphQL for Beginners–Part One

[Shopify](https://yomu.fyi/company/shopify) · 2023-10-18 · Jul 2, 2021

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

The article introduces GraphQL as an open-source data query and manipulation language for APIs, contrasting it with REST's fixed response shapes and multiple endpoint calls. GraphQL lets clients describe exactly which fields they need, returning that requested structure through a single endpoint rather than a cookie-cutter response. Using a Toronto Eagles example, the article explains how one GraphQL query can combine requests for a team's founding year, captain's name, and last championship, avoiding three separate RESTful trips whose latency can vary. It also uses burger and bank withdrawal analogies to explain over-fetching, under-fetching, flexible frontend iteration, and fewer endpoints, then points readers to a forthcoming Ruby on Rails implementation in part two.

## Context

REST endpoints return fixed sets of data and may require additional calls when clients need more information. Multiple trips to the server can increase total response time because latency may differ between calls. The article presents GraphQL in response to these over-fetching, under-fetching, and endpoint-count concerns.

## Approach / What changed

GraphQL allows clients to describe the exact structure and amount of data they need in a query, with the requested data returned through one endpoint. The article explains this approach through a Toronto Eagles example and burger and bank withdrawal analogies, then contrasts its benefits with REST.

## Takeaways

- GraphQL queries let clients request exactly the fields they need instead of receiving a fixed response shape.
- A single GraphQL query can combine requests that would require three separate RESTful calls, reducing server round trips in the example.
- The article identifies four GraphQL benefits over REST: less over-fetching, less under-fetching, more flexible frontend iteration, and fewer endpoints.

**Tags:** [GraphQL](https://yomu.fyi/topic/graphql), [Performance](https://yomu.fyi/topic/performance), [REST APIs](https://yomu.fyi/topic/rest-api)

- Source: [Shopify](https://shopify.engineering/understanding-graphql-beginner-part-one)
- Source URL: https://shopify.engineering/understanding-graphql-beginner-part-one
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-08-30T15:29:59.929Z

[Read original post](https://shopify.engineering/understanding-graphql-beginner-part-one)