6 Best GraphQL Books in 2023

This is a list of the best GraphQL books in 2023.

GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data.

GraphQL provides a complete and understandable description of the data in your API, gives clients the power to ask for exactly what they need and nothing more, makes it easier to evolve APIs over time, and enables powerful developer tools.

If you want to learn how to build GraphQL APIs, these are some of the best books on the subject.

Best GraphQL books in 2023 are:

1. The Road to GraphQL : Your journey to master pragmatic GraphQL in JavaScript with React.js and Node.js

Best GraphQL book

The Road to GraphQL is a journey through learning GraphQL with JavaScript the pragmatic way.

In this book, Robin Wieruch teaches you the basics of GraphQL. You will learn about the different Query and Mutation types and how to use them for fetching or mutating data. You will also learn about Schema Definition Language (SDL) and how to use it for creating your own GraphQL schema. By the end of this book, you will be able to create your own GraphQL server using Node.js.

If you are new to GraphQL or if you want to learn about the basics, then this is the book for you.

You will build client and server applications yourself, while learning about the basics of web development, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and API's. The book doubles down as a React.js book and Node.js, so that you can use them along with GraphQL in your own projects. You will even get the chance to implement your own GraphQL client library.

The author also created the official Slack Group for the book where you can get help from others.

Authors: Robin Wieruch

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Topics covered

You will learn how to:

Understand the basics of GraphQL
Learn how to use React to query GraphQL APIs
Learn how to use Node with Express to create a GraphQL server
Understand how GraphQL works under the hood

Robin Wieruch: About the author

Robin Wieruch is a German software and web engineer who is dedicated to learning and teaching programming in JavaScript. After obtaining his master's degree in computer science, he gained experience from the startup world where he used JavaScript extensively during his professional time and spare time.

2. GraphQL in Action

GraphQL in Action gives you the tools to get comfortable with the GraphQL language, build and optimize a data API service, and use it in a front-end client application.

GraphQL is a powerful query language that enables clients to request exactly what they need from servers, reducing bandwidth demands on APIs.

In GraphQL in Action, you'll learn how to bring those benefits to your own APIs, giving your clients the power to ask for exactly what they need from your server.

You'll also unlock easy ways to incorporate GraphQL into your existing codebase so you can build simple, scalable data APIs.

The book begins with an introduction to GraphQL and then dives into practical methods for building, optimizing, and using GraphQL data APIs. You'll explore different ways to design your schema, learn how to implement resolvers to fetch data from various sources, and discover how to optimize data fetching. The book also covers mutations, subscriptions, and security.

By the end of this book, you'll be able to build complete GraphQL servers and use them in front-end client applications.

GraphQL in Action is for web developers familiar with client-server applications. Some experience with JavaScript is helpful but not required.

Authors: Samer Buna

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Topics covered

You will learn how to:

Learn the basics of GraphQL
Understand how to build a GraphQL API
Discover best practices for GraphQL schema design and resolver optimization
Learn how to use GraphQL with a client library

Samer Buna: About the author

Samer Buna is a software developer with over 20 years of experience in web and mobile applications, API design, functional programming, optimization, system administration, and databases management. He is also an expert in project management, agile practices, and teaching. Buna has worked in a variety of industries, including real estate, government, education, and publications.

3. Learning GraphQL: Declarative Data Fetching for Modern Web Apps

Best GraphQL books for beginners

If you're looking to learn GraphQL, this is the perfect place to start.

With Learning GraphQL, you'll explore graph theory, the graph data structure, and GraphQL types before learning how to build a schema for a photo-sharing application.

This book also introduces you to Apollo Client, a popular framework you can use to connect GraphQL to your user interface.

By the end of this book, you'll be able to create efficient and reliable GraphQL APIs and clients for production.

Authors: Eve Porcello, Alex Banks

Topics covered

You will learn how to:

Understand the basics of GraphQL
Learn how to create a schema for a GraphQL API
Use JavaScript to build a GraphQL service
Know how to use Apollo Client to connect GraphQL to your user interface

4. Full Stack Serverless : Modern Application Development with React, AWS, and GraphQL

This hands-on guide shows you how to build full stack applications using React, AWS, GraphQL, and AWS Amplify.

You'll learn how to create and incorporate services into your client applications while learning general best practices, deployment strategies, rich media management, and continuous integration and delivery along the way.

You'll build a serverless application that solves real problems with technologies such as authentication and authorization, API gateways, chatbots, augmented reality scenes, and more.

Nader Dabit provides in-depth explanations of how these technologies work together so you can understand what is (and isn't) possible when using them.

By the end of this book, you'll have the skills and knowledge necessary to create sophisticated full stack applications on AWS.

What You'll Learn Understand what is (and isn't) possible when using serverless technologies Create a GraphQL API that interacts with DynamoDB and other NoSQL databases.

Authors: Nader Dabit

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Topics covered

You will learn how to:

Learn about the basics of cloud computing
Understand what is possible with React, AWS, GraphQL, and AWS Amplify
Learn best practices for development, deployment, and more
Gain an in-depth understanding of serverless functions
Build full stack applications on AWS
Create offline apps with Amplify DataStore

Nader Dabit: About the author

Nader Dabit is a web and mobile developer specializing in full stack serverless and cloud application development. He has created several popular open source projects spanning from mobile development to JamStack to full stack serverless development. He currently works at AWS as a Senior Developer Advocate, focusing on full stack web and mobile application development using cloud technologies.

5. Serverless GraphQL APIs with Amazon’s AWS AppSync

This book gets you a running start with serverless GraphQL APIs on Amazon's AWS AppSync. If you are an experienced GraphQL developer, this book will provide you with the knowledge needed to get started with AWS AppSync.

After quickly covering the GraphQL foundations, you will dive into the practice of developing APIs with AWS AppSync with in-depth walkthroughs, screenshots, and code samples.

The book guides you through the step-by-step process of designing GraphQL APIs: creating a GraphQL schema, developing GraphQL APIs, connecting data sources, developing resolvers with AppSync templates, securing your API, offering real-time data, developing offline support and synchronization for your apps and much more.

Authors: Matthias Biehl

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Topics covered

You will learn how to:

Understand what GraphQL is and how it works
Learn how to design schemas for GraphQL APIs
Understand how to develop resolvers for GraphQL APIs
Learn about AppSync, a cloud-based platform for GraphQL APIs
Gain experience developing with AWS AppSync
Learn how to secure GraphQL APIs
Discover how to offer real-time data with GraphQL
Understand how to add offline support for GraphQL apps

Matthias Biehl: About the author

Matthias Biehl is a software engineer and tech enthusiast with a background in APIs, AI, security, and software engineering. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in computer science. Matthias has worked as a software engineer for companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. He is the author of two books on GraphQL: Learning GraphQL and Designing APIs with GraphQL.

6. Production Ready GraphQL : Building well designed, performant, and secure GraphQL APIs at scale

GraphQL is a production-ready solution. And this book proves it.

Production Ready GraphQL is a collection of learnings and good practices when building GraphQL schemas at scale.

It is written for anyone who wants to use GraphQL in a pragmatic way, regardless of language or implementation.

The author provides real-world examples and advice on design, architecture, and documentation.

Authors: Marc-Andre Giroux

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Topics covered

You will learn how to:

Learn about the basics of GraphQL
Understand how to design a GraphQL schema
Know how to build a GraphQL server
Learn about best practices for working with GraphQL

About Josip

Josip Miskovic is a software developer at Americaneagle.com. Josip has 10+ years in experience in developing web applications, mobile apps, and games.

Follow @JosipMisko

1. The Road to GraphQL : Your journey to master pragmatic GraphQL in JavaScript with React.js and Node.js

Best GraphQL book

Topics covered

Robin Wieruch: About the author

2. GraphQL in Action

Topics covered

Samer Buna: About the author

3. Learning GraphQL: Declarative Data Fetching for Modern Web Apps

Best GraphQL books for beginners

Topics covered

4. Full Stack Serverless : Modern Application Development with React, AWS, and GraphQL

Topics covered

Nader Dabit: About the author

5. Serverless GraphQL APIs with Amazon’s AWS AppSync

Topics covered

Matthias Biehl: About the author

6. Production Ready GraphQL : Building well designed, performant, and secure GraphQL APIs at scale

Topics covered

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