GraphQL vs Remote Procedure Calls

Developers should learn GraphQL when building modern web or mobile applications that require flexible, efficient data fetching, such as in complex frontend-backend integrations or microservices architectures meets developers should learn rpc when building distributed systems, microservices architectures, or client-server applications that require efficient inter-process communication. Here's our take.

GraphQL

Nice Pick

Developers should learn GraphQL when building modern web or mobile applications that require flexible, efficient data fetching, such as in complex frontend-backend integrations or microservices architectures

Pros

• It's particularly useful for scenarios where clients need to avoid multiple round-trips to servers or when APIs must evolve without breaking existing queries
• Related to: apollo-client, relay

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Remote Procedure Calls

Developers should learn RPC when building distributed systems, microservices architectures, or client-server applications that require efficient inter-process communication

Pros

• It is particularly useful for scenarios like cloud-based services, where components run on separate servers and need to coordinate tasks, such as in financial transactions, real-time data processing, or IoT device management
• Related to: grpc, apache-thrift

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. GraphQL is a tool while Remote Procedure Calls is a concept. We picked GraphQL based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

GraphQL wins

Based on overall popularity. GraphQL is more widely used, but Remote Procedure Calls excels in its own space.

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