Enhance customer experiences with Apollo GraphOS


<p><kbd>This post is part of our GraphQL Summit 2024 customer series, highlighting how leading teams are using Apollo to accelerate development and build world-class applications. Join hundreds of your peers this October as we return for <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/graphql-summit-2025">GraphQL Summit 2025.</a></kbd></p>



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<p><a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/">PlayStation</a>, a leader in the gaming industry, has transformed its digital store experience by integrating GraphQL into its architecture. Powering experiences across PS5, PlayStation VR, Portal, Mobile, and PlayStation&#8217;s services ecosystem, the platform gives users access to a library of games, including in-house creations like God of War, Spider-Man, and their latest hit, Astrobot. At <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/events/series/graphql-summit-2024">GraphQL Summit 2024</a>, Devashree Shirude, Senior Software Engineer at PlayStation, shared how the company overhauled its digital store experience with federated GraphQL with Apollo, effectively orchestrating multiple backend APIs into a unified, high-performance experience.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#the-api-orchestration-challenge" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="the-api-orchestration-challenge"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>The API Orchestration Challenge</h2>



<p>When preparing for the PS5 launch, PlayStation examined their tech stack and identified business bottlenecks in its existing REST-based architecture. The system placed heavy computational logic on the client side, leading to duplicate code across platforms and inconsistent user experiences.&nbsp;</p>



<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;ve ever bought a game or add-on on PlayStation, you might be wondering what made our stores look so consistent or so robust when you switch between mobile and web platforms,&#8221; Devashree explained.&nbsp;</p>



<p>However, achieving this consistency was difficult. Each platform, console, web, and mobile, had to manage its own business logic – a complex web of APIs. Each platform had to independently orchestrate these APIs, resulting in duplicated orchestration logic, redundant implementations, and data inconsistencies across devices.&nbsp;</p>



<p>What PlayStation needed was a centralized, declarative approach to API orchestration that could handle the complex business logic while allowing each platform to maintain its unique experience.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#the-path-to-graphql" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="the-path-to-graphql"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>The Path to GraphQL</h2>



<p>The shift to GraphQL was guided by a core principle, as Devashree noted: &#8220;At PlayStation, we believe that every application should offer a unique experience to our users.&#8221; Instead of forcing a one-size-fits-all approach, PlayStation used GraphQL to create a unified data layer, allowing platforms to maintain customized user experiences while leveraging a shared backend.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#implementation-strategy" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="implementation-strategy"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Implementation Strategy</h3>



<p><strong>Centralized API Orchestration</strong></p>



<p>GraphQL federation with Apollo provided PlayStation with a declarative approach to API orchestration. Instead of each client writing procedural code to chain API calls, transform responses, and handle errors, these orchestration patterns were defined once in the GraphQL layer. </p>



<p>This orchestration layer automatically handles critical concerns like sequencing API calls, parallelizing requests where possible, transforming data into the exact shape needed by clients, and implementing resilience patterns like retries and fallbacks. It provided a consistent foundation while allowing platforms to maintain unique user journeys.</p>



<p>One example is the<em> wishlist </em>feature. &#8220;Though the UI looks compact, thousands of computations are happening in the backend,&#8221; shared Devashree. Instead of separate implementations for each platform, GraphQL resolvers now centrally handle wishlist operations, while platforms retain control over UI design and interactions. </p>



<p><strong>Revolutionizing Business Logic</strong></p>



<p>One of the most significant improvements came from centralizing complex business computations. &#8220;What I see on the screen would be different from what you see on the screen,&#8221; Devashree explained. These computations take into account various factors including user subscriptions, past purchases, entitlements, and loyalty tier status.</p>



<p>By moving these computations from the client layer to GraphQL federation, PlayStation eliminated the need for duplicate code across platforms.</p>



<p><strong>Optimizing Performance with Apollo Client</strong></p>



<p>To accelerate performance and enhance user experience, PlayStation adopted Apollo Client 3.7’s <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/react/data/defer">@defer directive</a> to quickly create a progressive loading experience for users. “Rather than loading everything at once, we break down the UI into chunks, ensuring users see important details first. This not only improves speed but also positively impacts revenue,” Devashree noted.&nbsp;</p>



<p>With deferred loading, PlayStation saw faster page interactions, improved conversion rates, and better overall store performance.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#best-practices-and-lessons-learned" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="best-practices-and-lessons-learned"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Best Practices and Lessons Learned</h2>



<p>Devashree emphasized the importance of cross-functional collaboration: &#8220;Break those barriers, go out there and talk to your cross-functional groups, like your product team, your user experience team, your design team saying that hey, we already have this available, why not build on top of it?&#8221; By encouraging collaboration, PlayStation ensured developers, designers, and product teams aligned on GraphQL capabilities, and new features leveraged existing GraphQL logic instead of reinventing the wheel.</p>



<p>However, Devashree cautioned about potential pitfalls: &#8220;be careful of regressions, each app has its own character, each application has its own tech stack&#8230; if something is happening on Windows, not necessarily it&#8217;s gonna happen on iOS because they are two different OSs.&#8221; By maintaining platform-specific flexibility, PlayStation balanced consistency with customization.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#takeaways" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="takeaways"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Takeaways</h2>



<p>With GraphQL federation, PlayStation has built a robust foundation that&nbsp; accelerates performance, boosts&nbsp; developer efficiency, and streamlines updates. Mobile updates, which previously required lengthy app store approvals, can now be shipped faster since core logic resides in GraphQL rather than in platform-specific applications.</p>



<p>By cutting development time through code reuse, accelerating store performance with smart loading strategies, and maintaining cross-platform consistency while allowing for customization, PlayStation has created a more efficient, scalable digital store experience.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote><p><em>&#8220;API orchestration used to be a major pain point for us,&#8221; Devashree reflected. &#8220;With federation, we&#8217;ve transformed it into a competitive advantage. Our teams can focus on building great gaming experiences instead of wrestling with the complexities of connecting multiple backend services.&#8221;</em></p></blockquote></figure>



<p></p>



<p>To learn more from Devashree and PlayStation&#8217;s journey, watch her full session from GraphQL Summit 2024.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Defer then React: The secret to optimizing performance and revenue for PlayStation Store" width="580" height="326" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a1A6SD-WmZo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>


How PlayStation Optimized Performance and Revenue for Their Digital Store with GraphQL Federation


<p>Realtor.com is a trusted real estate listing platform that connects buyers and realtors for a seamless experience when renting, buying, or selling properties. At <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w07Z572q3kg">GraphQL Summit 2023</a>, Suzy Julius and Cabe Waldrop — SVP of Product and Engineering and Principal Engineer at Realtor.com —&nbsp; discussed the company’s GraphQL journey to simplify its tech stack and scale without compromising performance.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#context-and-challenges" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="context-and-challenges"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Context and challenges</h2>



<p>In 2020, Suzy and her team performed a technology audit and found that many of their decisions were based on short-term gains, incomplete migrations, and siloed platforms. In response, the company adopted a technology strategy called “simplify to scale” to target new businesses. The involved teams narrowed in on four key areas of focus: data platform, identity, CI/CD pipeline, and the API layer.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In order to tackle these challenges, Suzy and her team evaluated many API solutions but ultimately, they decided GraphQL and <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/federation/">Apollo Federation</a> was the best solution to streamline and unify their APIs. Suzy and Cabe found that only addressing the technological components hindered their progress; they needed to invest just as many resources into storytelling and communication to connect with other teams.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/J5Phv-NHwB-L3F7r0th1uSAKywt5rYL_C0dKI8TYLp6FKcCo3yMiCtTLQRpx2ugeptbDu7uisYx1qLDsbJrJ9L2_GS8DEZ7WESQMZHkAgYAcODxSHvvGdn8FZEFt6gkfKLML8SYmQTfK--yUulEfRss" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Figure: Realtor.com journey to GraphQL adoption</figcaption></figure>



<p>Read on to learn about Realtor.com’s most prominent requirements to adopt new technologies and solutions throughout the three phases of its journey: the tech stack, the supergraph, and the API paradigm shifts needed to deliver great UI experiences to clients. They discuss each phase through the lens of their four-step process for GraphQL adoption resiliency, which include solving the technical problem, building momentum, overcoming resistance, and communicating at every level. Let’s dive in.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="522" src="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-22-at-9.48.32-AM-1024x522.png" alt="" class="wp-image-23655" srcset="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-22-at-9.48.32-AM-1024x522.png 1024w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-22-at-9.48.32-AM-300x153.png 300w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-22-at-9.48.32-AM-768x391.png 768w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-22-at-9.48.32-AM-1536x782.png 1536w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-22-at-9.48.32-AM-1200x611.png 1200w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-22-at-9.48.32-AM.png 1908w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Figure: Four-step process to create adoption resiliency </figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#the-road-to-graphql-adoption-with-apollo" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="the-road-to-graphql-adoption-with-apollo"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>The road to GraphQL adoption with Apollo</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#tech-stack" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="tech-stack"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Tech stack&nbsp;</h3>



<p>The first area that Realtor.com targeted was the API layer. Realtor.com had previously struggled with over-indexed microservices, endpoint and API inconsistencies, and complex data aggregation on the client side. Cabe and his team considered many options — like service mesh, microservices, and shared libraries — but ultimately, they decided GraphQL was the best solution to streamline and unify their APIs.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Suzy and Cabe quickly realized that to implement a unifying API solution, they needed to collaborate with other teams to create understanding and transparency.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Suzy and Cabe created a Strategic Technical Initiative Group (STIG) to approach the transition with multiple individuals and teams, including executive sponsors, tech drivers, working groups, and stakeholders. Each of these groups provided different areas of expertise to help the GraphQL STIG prepare for opposition.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It came as no surprise that the STIG faced resistance from engineering, product, design, leadership, and cross-functional teams. “Don&#8217;t assume that everyone understands or cares about your technical challenges,” said Cabe. “People aren&#8217;t going to be swayed because you&#8217;ve lined the boxes up nicely… but the good news is that you can get through [to them] if you persevere.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Suzy continued, “We really leaned into the idea that your single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it&#8217;s already taken place.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>With that in mind, the two began tailoring their messaging to each individual team, appealing to their specific interests and challenges. This approach helped the STIG better communicate GraphQL advantages like a single endpoint for all clients, standard payload and error handling, and standardized authentication. As those messages were received, teams started to understand how GraphQL would solve issues they faced day-to-day, related to complexity, security, and developer quality of life.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/DqmvjUCOOYAKJVtW2NW_ctHQGTYPxq4s8kNWfL6uJePSWYIzteDt1UzLdxzYjsGOuUpCfzIHTV3blqvQIbiCYVi_6qAB-jnogaqA1m9UPRew_8gVkgg3sLYGlxQCsrnaHekWXtsfm0TX8GlHVPMF5Es" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Figure: The GraphQL advantage</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#the-supergraph" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="the-supergraph"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>The supergraph&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Once the STIG sold Realtor.com teams on a GraphQL migration, they faced another challenge: rebuilding a monolithic schema. The existing centralized ownership model had lengthy review processes, unclear roles, and inadequate tools that were slowing progress. They found themselves in a position where too many actors were editing and handling the code base, contributing to a fractured API sprawl.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The core GraphQL team decided to employ <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/federation/">Apollo Federation</a> to achieve a federated GraphQL architecture called the <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/supergraph/">supergraph</a>. Federation maintains the simplicity of the monolith for client teams but offers a modular, decoupled approach for service teams — allowing for individual GraphQL APIs maintained by separate teams on separate servers called <a href="http://r">subgraphs</a>. These subgraphs sit behind a single API router and access point and combine into one schema to form a supergraph.</p>



<p><strong>Under the supergraph, each service team at Realtor.com could maintain and release changes on their own GraphQL APIs and define core entities in one graph. Plus, client developers could consume data from the federated graph at a single endpoint, quickly and painlessly.</strong></p>



<p>To support this process, Suzy and Cabe recommend finding early adopters and providing them with resources to get the supergraph project off the ground. At Realtor.com, security and growth teams were particularly excited about GraphQL, so the core team built a guild to discuss best practices. When they eventually faced opposition about moving away from a monolith approach, they had already focused on building out the tools and automation that simplify subgraph deployment for better visualization.</p>



<p>Suzy said, “Big migrations are often a combination of focusing on the journey and not just the destination, but also celebrating the wins when you have them. Let&#8217;s be honest, it takes a bit of cleverness to get things done right.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#paradigm-shifts" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="paradigm-shifts"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Paradigm shifts</h3>



<p>The major paradigm shift that Realtor.com faced involved finding a way for its APIs to both express the intent of the product and power a high-quality user experience. Realtor.com displays listings for thousands of homes, with specific information about features, timelines, and price drops. Developer teams need to write the same code for every single one of these experiences across Android, iOS, web, and more — and as the number of clients increases, the likelihood that the code stays uniform decreases.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“This is where GraphQL really shines, regardless of whether you&#8217;re in tech, product, or design,” Cabe said.&nbsp;</p>



<p>GraphQL allows teams to get features out the door faster and ensure quality across an entire product suite by building experience-driven APIs and moving logic to the backend. Furthermore, with a single backend expression of core business logic, it streamlines how teams understand and process data. These benefits support a focus on the entire product and a stronger sense of customer trust.</p>



<p>“This is more of a cultural shift than a technical problem you&#8217;re solving for,” Suzy clarified. “We can&#8217;t stress enough just how critical it is that you need to build resiliency into your business because if you do that, and you communicate, you can continue this big paradigm shift when business is up and also when it&#8217;s down.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Suzy and Cabe said this comes down to exposure. Paradigm shifts are about noting what works when showing different teams how GraphQL impacts business processes and results.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#looking-toward-the-future" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="looking-toward-the-future"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Looking toward the future</h2>



<p>By jumping headfirst into GraphQL with Apollo, Realtor.com transitioned from multiple product expressions to a shared product expression, from an architectural point of technical leverage to an organizational point of product leverage, and from many services and data sources to a single platform.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Cabe emphasized, “If you&#8217;re an engineer, there&#8217;s a level of maturity and growth that comes from investing in the product side and knowing more about what you&#8217;re trying to deliver. Think about those APIs and about how they power the experience so you can deliver more in the future.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Check out Suzy Julius and Cabe Waldrop’s insightful <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w07Z572q3kg&amp;list=PLpi1lPB6opQzUOqG3QroLLN06FF-Q_uhX&amp;index=3">session at the GraphQL Summit 2023</a> to learn more. Ready to start your GraphQL journey with Apollo? <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/contact-sales?referrer=nav-contact-sales">Contact</a> one of our representatives today!&nbsp;</p>


How Realtor.com Achieved Technological and Cultural Transformation with GraphQL


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/API-Days-NY-Apollo-GraphQL-Speakers-1024x573.png" alt="" class="wp-image-23618" srcset="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/API-Days-NY-Apollo-GraphQL-Speakers-1024x573.png 1024w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/API-Days-NY-Apollo-GraphQL-Speakers-300x168.png 300w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/API-Days-NY-Apollo-GraphQL-Speakers-768x430.png 768w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/API-Days-NY-Apollo-GraphQL-Speakers.png 1186w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>API Days NY is a must-attend for those looking to network with API leaders and learn how top enterprises are leveraging federated GraphQL in their API platforms. As you can see from the agenda highlights below, it will be an exciting two day event.&nbsp;</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Our founder and CTO, Matt DeBergalis, will share his keynote &#8220;The Year Ahead for GraphQL Federation: Uniting APIs for the AI Era”</li>



<li>API leaders from Netflix, Wayfair and Apollo will present sessions on optimizing performance, creating effective api schemas and building an internal community for effective API governance</li>



<li>Apollo is offering a free workshop to guide you through building your first GraphQL query and beyond</li>



<li><a href="https://bit.ly/43IhuX4">Register to join us for a meetup &amp; happy hour</a> to meet with peer API leaders and GraphQL experts</li>
</ul>



<p>Swing by the Apollo booth to connect, and read on for more details.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#keynote-the-year-ahead-for-graphql-federation-combining-apis-for-the-ai-era" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="keynote-the-year-ahead-for-graphql-federation-combining-apis-for-the-ai-era"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>Keynote: The Year Ahead for GraphQL Federation: Combining APIs for the AI Era</strong></h3>



<p><em>Matt DeBergalis, Founder and CTO, Apollo GraphQL</em></p>



<p>Forget what you’ve heard about GraphQL – it’s not a REST alternative, graph database, or just for front-end developers. GraphQL is about combining the APIs you already have.</p>



<p>In this talk, you’ll learn how a federated GraphQL architecture brings a platform approach to API composition, where it fits into the API stack, and what is coming next to help teams build tomorrow’s AI products and experiences on today’s APIs.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#session-the-graphql-overhead-myth-or-reality" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="session-the-graphql-overhead-myth-or-reality"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>Session: The GraphQL Overhead: Myth or Reality?</strong></h3>



<p><em>Marc-André Grioux, Senior Software Engineer &amp; Author, Netflix</em></p>



<p>GraphQL is a powerful tool to enable declarative data fetching on the client and dynamic data representation on the server. This power must have an overhead. In this talk, investigate what this overhead is made of, how impactful it can be to scaling an API platform and services, and how to mitigate it as much as possible while retaining the benefits of GraphQL.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#session-the-secrets-to-graph-success-from-inception-to-general-availability" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="session-the-secrets-to-graph-success-from-inception-to-general-availability"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>Session: The Secrets to Graph Success, from Inception to General Availability</strong></h3>



<p><em>Leah Hurwich-Adler, Senior Product Leader</em></p>



<p>Building an API platform for a Fortune 100 retailer, capable of handling over 600 million requests per day, requires a highly distributed ecosystem and Federated GraphQL. Drawing from firsthand experience, Leah will share insights on building an internal API community, setting up governance models, and igniting leaders&#8217; enthusiasm for your platform vision. Join this talk to uncover the keys to launching a successful GraphQL platform, through lessons that merge technology with strategic and leadership insights.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#session-benefits-of-idiomatic-code-first-graphql-development" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="session-benefits-of-idiomatic-code-first-graphql-development"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>Session: Benefits of Idiomatic Code First GraphQL Development</strong></h3>



<p><em>Derek Kuc, Principal Engineer, Apollo GraphQL</em></p>



<p>When building a GraphQL server, two main approaches exist: starting with an SDL and matching resolver logic, or generating the schema directly from code. In this talk, explore the benefits of idiomatic code-first GraphQL development, focusing on GraphQL Kotlin examples. Discover how this approach enhances developer experience and API consistency.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#workshop-build-an-api-composition-layer-with-apollo-graphql" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="workshop-build-an-api-composition-layer-with-apollo-graphql"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>Workshop: Build an API Composition Layer with Apollo GraphQL</strong></h3>



<p><em>Michael Berger, Solutions Engineer, Apollo GraphQL</em></p>



<p>Use GraphQL to accelerate developer velocity by creating a composition layer for your microservices. Orchestrate data by creating a query that spans your REST APIs and delivers exactly the data your application requires. Learn how to build your first GraphQL query and why GraphQL is valuable to your microservice architecture.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#nyc-meetup-and-happy-hour" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="nyc-meetup-and-happy-hour"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>NYC Meetup and Happy Hour</strong></h3>



<p><a href="https://bit.ly/43IhuX4">Register to join the Apollo team, Graph Champions, and apidays attendees</a> on April 30 at 6 PM following the conference for bites and beverages at nearby restaurant The Reading Room (16 E 46th St, New York, NY 10017 &#8211; located in the Gotham Hotel)</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#still-deciding-get-your-free-pass-now-before-they-run-out" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="still-deciding-get-your-free-pass-now-before-they-run-out"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>Still deciding? Get your free pass now before they run out!&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>The full conference ticket includes access to the Keynotes, Track Sessions, Workshops and Networking Breakfasts and Lunches on April 30 &amp; May 1. Email <a href="mailto:champions@apollographql.com">champions@apollographql.com</a> to learn more and request a pass.</p>


Join Us at API Days in New York City, April 30 & May 1, 2024

How Wayfair achieved GraphQL success with federated GraphQL


<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#industry-leaders-to-showcase-tangible-business-impact-of-graphql-federation" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="industry-leaders-to-showcase-tangible-business-impact-of-graphql-federation"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><em>Industry Leaders to Showcase Tangible Business Impact of GraphQL Federation</em></h2>



<p>In the wake of a recent report by Gartner<sup>®</sup>, <a href="https://apollographql.com">Apollo GraphQL</a>, the creator of GraphQL federation, is announcing the 7th annual GraphQL Summit, scheduled for October 8–10, 2024, in New York City. This premier three-day event gathers the largest assembly of GraphQL enthusiasts and API platform teams. Engineering teams can learn from industry leaders spearheading successful GraphQL deployments at scale and hear from Apollo GraphQL on its product roadmap and vision for the future of GraphQL and GraphQL federation.</p>



<p>According to the Gartner report, GraphQL&#8217;s adoption is on the rise, since “By 2027, more than 60% of enterprises will use GraphQL in production, up from less than 30% in 2024.” The report also predicts that “By 2027, 30% of enterprises using GraphQL will utilize GraphQL federation, up from less than 5% in 2024.”1<sup data-fn="5626a7a6-afc4-465e-84b4-2219decdae0e" class="fn"><a href="#5626a7a6-afc4-465e-84b4-2219decdae0e" id="5626a7a6-afc4-465e-84b4-2219decdae0e-link">1</a></sup> As GraphQL federation marks its<a href="https://www.apollographql.com/blog/celebrating-five-years-of-apollo-federation"> 5th anniversary,</a> Apollo GraphQL remains at the forefront of this transformative technology.</p>



<p>Previous GraphQL Summits have featured internet giants like Netflix, Intuit, and Wayfair, sharing invaluable insights into deploying GraphQL at scale to support distributed architectures. Rather than a sprawl of backends-for-frontends or experience APIs, these teams implemented GraphQL federation, an architecture that combines APIs and enables any number of client teams to query them from a single endpoint. Engineering leaders and API platform teams can learn how to use this architecture to drive developer velocity, enhance the customer experience across any number of applications, or handle the technical side of mergers and acquisitions, where IT is saddled with many disparate siloed systems that were never designed to talk to each other.</p>



<p>This year’s GraphQL Summit aims to support this burgeoning adoption with sessions led by industry luminaries across various sectors, including retail, automotive, and banking.&nbsp; Featured speakers include Stephanie Saunders, Engineering Manager at Coinbase; Mike Cohen, Technical Fellow at Indeed; and Marc-Andre Giroux, Senior Software Developer at Netflix, as well as the co-founders of Apollo GraphQL, Geoff Schmidt and Matt DeBergalis, who will share their insights and expertise on the future of GraphQL and GraphQL federation. Attendees can expect tracks and workshops covering best practices on security, governance, and API platform engineering; real-world use cases and the latest advancements in GraphQL technology; along with a new focus on leveraging GraphQL federation to support artificial intelligence.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote><p>Geoff Schmidt, CEO and co-founder of Apollo GraphQL, remarks: “As enterprise technology evolves, the rise of GraphQL represents a pivotal shift towards more efficient, scalable, and interconnected systems. The latest insights from Gartner reaffirm what we at Apollo GraphQL have long believed: GraphQL federation is not just a trend, but a fundamental technology shaping the future of digital experiences. Apollo GraphQL is committed to fostering an environment where developers and enterprises can learn, grow, and succeed with GraphQL. The upcoming GraphQL Summit is a reflection of this commitment, featuring talks from industry leaders like Coinbase and Netflix, and promises to be an invaluable opportunity for API platform engineers and leaders to discover how GraphQL federation revolutionizes API architectures for seamless, innovative systems that are driving the future of digital experiences.”</p></blockquote></figure>



<p>All GraphQL enthusiasts are invited to join the conversation by submitting to speak at the Summit. Whether an industry veteran or a newcomer, this is a chance to share insights, experiences, and innovations with the GraphQL community.</p>



<p>For more information about the GraphQL Summit or to submit your proposal to speak, please visit our website: <a href="http://www.graphqlsummit.com">www.graphqlsummit.com</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#resources" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="resources"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Resources</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Read the<a href="https://www.apollographql.com/resources/gartner-when-to-use-graphql-to-accelerate-api-delivery"> latest Gartner report</a>, When to Use GraphQL to Accelerate API Delivery</li>



<li>Learn more about <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/blog/celebrating-five-years-of-apollo-federation">Apollo Federation</a>, Apollo’s implementation of GraphQL Federation&nbsp;</li>



<li>Stay up to date on the <a href="http://www.graphqlsummit.com">GraphQL Summit </a>agenda and learn more about it <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/blog/announcing-graphql-summit-2024-in-new-york-city">here</a></li>



<li><a href="https://www.apollographql.com/graphos/">Build </a>a GraphQL API platform today</li>



<li><a href="https://www.apollographql.com/tutorials/certifications/apollo-graph-professional/learning-path/">Become certified </a>as an Apollo GraphQL developer</li>



<li><a href="https://discord.com/invite/yFZJH2QYrK">Join</a> the Apollo GraphQL Community on Discord</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#about-apollo-graphql" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="about-apollo-graphql"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>About Apollo GraphQL</h2>



<p><a href="https://apollographql.com">Apollo GraphQL </a>helps developers help the world by providing a better API platform across teams. Apollo’s open-source software is downloaded 25M times per month and its commercial GraphQL technologies power the most innovative brands today. Teams at Netflix, Snap, and the New York Times ship personalized, omnichannel experiences faster with a supergraph – a self-service GraphQL platform that spans any number of backend services. Serving over 5T requests in 2023, the Apollo GraphOS<sup>TM</sup> platform simplifies API development with workflows and infrastructure to build, test, and ship supergraphs at any scale. Based in San Francisco, Apollo is backed by Insight Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix Partners, and Trinity Ventures. Learn more at: <a href="https://www.apollographql.com">https://www.apollographql.com</a>.</p>


<ol class="wp-block-footnotes"><li id="5626a7a6-afc4-465e-84b4-2219decdae0e">Gartner, When to Use GraphQL to Accelerate API Delivery, By Shameen Pillai, et al, March 7, 2024. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. <a href="#5626a7a6-afc4-465e-84b4-2219decdae0e-link" aria-label="Jump to footnote reference 1">↩︎</a></li></ol>

Image portays GraphQL Summit by Apollo logo and includes text that reads the conference for API platform engineering builders and leaders. October 8-10, 2024. Convene 225 Liberty New York City.

Apollo GraphQL Announces the Next GraphQL Summit Amid Rapid GraphQL Enterprise Adoption 


<p>The Netflix API evolution is a saga worth exploring, spanning 15 years and five generations of APIs, culminating in GraphQL adoption to meet the growing demands of its industry-leading streaming platform. Bruce Wang, Director of Product Platform Systems at Netflix, sat down with Matt DeBergalis, CTO at Apollo GraphQL, to discuss Netflix&#8217;s extensive API journey and the adoption of <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/resources/faq/#what-is-graphql">GraphQL</a> in an insightful fireside discussion during the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b78Q7qY4IpI&amp;t=121s">GraphQL Summit 2023</a>.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-wistia-inc wp-block-embed-wistia-inc"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<script src="https://fast.wistia.com/assets/external/E-v1.js" async></script><div class="wistia_responsive_padding" style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><div class="wistia_responsive_wrapper" style="height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:100%;"><div class="wistia_embed wistia_async_gx4gps0gg9 dnt=1 seo=false videoFoam=true" style="height:100%;position:relative;width:100%"><div class="wistia_swatch" style="height:100%;left:0;opacity:0;overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0;transition:opacity 200ms;width:100%;"><img decoding="async" src="https://fast.wistia.com/embed/medias/gx4gps0gg9/swatch" style="filter:blur(5px);height:100%;object-fit:contain;width:100%;" alt="" aria-hidden="true" onload="this.parentNode.style.opacity=1;" /></div></div></div></div>
</div></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#netflixs-api-evolution-the-unexpected-journey" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="netflixs-api-evolution-the-unexpected-journey"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Netflix&#8217;s API Evolution: The Unexpected Journey</h2>



<p>Their conversation built on Bruce’s earlier webinar, &#8220;<a href="https://www.apollographql.com/events/champions-corner/thank-you/netflixs-unexpected-journey-to-the-supergraph/">Netflix APIs: An Unexpected Journey</a>&#8221; where he shared how their multi-year, multi-generation API evolution culminated in a new &#8220;Consumer Edge&#8221; powered by federated GraphQL.<br><br>Along the way the Netflix API team adopted and then outgrew multiple API architectures. From their initial catalog of distributed REST endpoints coined “OpenAPI&#8221; to its replacement API platform “API.next” and then to “DNA” a GraphQL-like API. In each case, they were encased in a complex monolith, so their goal was threefold: break the monolithic architecture, unify the APIs across diverse platforms and empower domain owners to manage their APIs independently.&nbsp; </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>“In all our previous stacks, each individual UI built their own APIs. iOS had one API, Android had another API, TV had a different API, etc. we just couldn’t scale with the business anymore. Unifying those in a single federated GraphQL API was super valuable, and something we couldn&#8217;t do before.”</p>



<p>&#8211; <em>Bruce Wang, Director of Product Platform Systems team, Netflix</em></p>
</blockquote>



<p>As described in their 2020 blog <a href="https://netflixtechblog.com/how-netflix-scales-its-api-with-graphql-federation-part-1-ae3557c187e2">How Netflix Scales its API with GraphQL Federation</a>, the Netflix API team found <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/federation/subgraph-spec/">the Apollo Federation specification</a> the perfect way to scale their GraphQL architecture. In the federated model, individual GraphQL schemas become subgraphs, which are composed into a unified supergraph. In this way, they retained the integrated “Consumer Edge” API they sought while decoupling their many domain teams. The result was faster delivery without sacrificing a cohesive customer experience.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The graph&#8217;s power to democratize information also helped foster data-centric discussions, empowering every Netflix team member to meaningfully engage using concrete information.&nbsp; </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p><em>&#8220;There have been numerous instances where people ask, &#8216;What does this subgraph do?&#8217; And now we can simply go in and see it all, what it does, who calls it. That sounds basic, but we lacked this information with previous APIs; it was like dealing with a black box. Only the API team knew how to manage that black box.&#8221;</em></p>



<p>&#8211; <em>Bruce Wang, Director of Product Platform Systems team, Netflix</em></p>
</blockquote>



<p>For a full recounting of Netflix&#8217;s API transformation journey, be sure to watch Bruce’s &#8220;<a href="https://www.apollographql.com/events/champions-corner/thank-you/netflixs-unexpected-journey-to-the-supergraph/">Netflix APIs: An Unexpected Journey</a>&#8221; webinar.&nbsp; </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#strategic-lessons-from-netflixs-api-evolution" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="strategic-lessons-from-netflixs-api-evolution"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Strategic Lessons from Netflix&#8217;s API Evolution</h2>



<p>Bruce expanded on Netflix&#8217;s API journey at a fireside chat with Matt at GraphQL Summit 2023. In this talk, Bruce highlighted some helpful tips for rolling out a graph across a broader organization, emphasizing the strategic approach of tackling complex challenges first, balancing the needs of API clients and service owners, leaning into developer experience and API governance, and discussing the human element for successful technological innovation. Read on to learn more.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#lesson-1-tackle-complex-challenges-first" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="lesson-1-tackle-complex-challenges-first"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Lesson 1: Tackle Complex Challenges First</h3>



<p>When undertaking major architectural transformations, a conventional approach often suggests starting simple and working up to complex use cases. However, when Matt asked about the key lessons from the API transformative journey, Bruce highlighted the strategy of addressing the most complex customer experiences first, which for Netflix would have been its homepage. This approach helps in de-risking the project and provides immediate value, testing the robustness of the new API strategy under demanding conditions.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In discussing this, Bruce emphasized that technology choices must deliver tangible user benefits, emphasizing the essence of Netflix&#8217;s strategic technological shifts anchored in delivering meaningful outcomes.&nbsp; </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p><em>&#8220;For me, I really believe in providing value. I don&#8217;t believe in adopting technology just because it&#8217;s cool. It&#8217;s cool, but it has to provide value, right?”</em></p>



<p>&#8211; <em>Bruce Wang, Director of Product Platform Systems team, Netflix</em></p>
</blockquote>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#lesson-2-balance-the-needs-of-api-clients-and-service-owners" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="lesson-2-balance-the-needs-of-api-clients-and-service-owners"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Lesson 2: Balance the Needs of API Clients and Service Owners&nbsp;</h3>



<p>While GraphQL is often associated with frontend development due to its client-centric approach, its true value extends far beyond the frontend.&nbsp;</p>



<p>During the conversation, Bruce highlighted that although his team initially centered on the API client&#8217;s value proposition, the focus shifted towards federating and democratizing GraphQL development&nbsp; over time. This evolution stemmed from the necessity to break down a complex monolith across major domains such as the growth graph, discovery graph, and identity graph. The API team aimed to distribute ownership, allowing service teams to manage their APIs independently.&nbsp;</p>



<p>An unintended consequence of Netflix&#8217;s journey into microservices was the API team inadvertently becoming the central clearing house for an intricate web of models and dependencies, crucial for diverse functionalities. The organic development of graphs within backend and frontend teams marked a significant shift, reducing dependency on the API team. When Matt inquired about the value of this approach, Bruce emphasized that it fostered independent evolution, creating an environment where new graph components emerged organically without the API team&#8217;s direct involvement.&nbsp;</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p><em>“ [&#8230;] the thing that we really wanted is for the UI team to talk to the backend team without us being in the middle. [&#8230;] The design of the graphs are happening organically; the back-end teams and the UI teams are working together. We&#8217;re using tooling to make the sharing easier, the testing easier. New graphs are coming up without us even knowing.”&nbsp;</em></p>



<p>&#8211; <em>Bruce Wang, Director of Product Platform Systems team, Netflix</em></p>
</blockquote>



<p>While this heralds a new era of dynamic API development, Bruce cautioned that the challenge remains in balancing autonomy without federating complexity at Netflix. He noted that the API team held significant expertise in managing a large-scale graph, and transferring this responsibility abruptly to service teams could create complications. Bruce emphasized that maintaining the consolidated experience of the API team is crucial to prevent potential issues arising from distributing this responsibility among multiple backend teams.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#lesson-3-lean-into-developer-experience-api-governance" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="lesson-3-lean-into-developer-experience-api-governance"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Lesson 3: Lean into Developer Experience &amp; API Governance</h3>



<p>The discussion also touched on governance aspects in API management. Bruce highlighted a specific instance where the challenge arose while migrating intricate iOS and Android-specific APIs into a more universally applicable graph. This process revealed significant logic embedded in the UI code and Backend for Frontend (BFFs), necessitating strategic decisions on representation and ownership within the graph. The API team intentionally took the lead in the initial translation to simplify these complexities, paving the way for future domain ownership. Bruce elaborates on their collaborative approach with sister teams, such as the Consumer Identity and Access (CIA) team, indicating an ongoing phase where the API team currently manages while actively facilitating a transition of ownership.</p>



<p>The Netflix journey portrays deliberate steps in crafting a schema framework, navigating complexities in transitioning logic to the graph, and fostering a decentralized governance model for effective ownership and evolution of APIs.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#lesson-4-bridge-silos-by-fostering-inter-team-conversations" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="lesson-4-bridge-silos-by-fostering-inter-team-conversations"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>Lesson 4: Bridge Silos by Fostering Inter-Team Conversations</h3>



<p>In the realm of Netflix&#8217;s API evolution, the conversation steered into the intricacies of the <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/federation/#next-steps">supergraph</a> and its profound impact on organizational dynamics and developer experiences. Bruce explained that while they employ advanced tooling to facilitate graph management, they also invest significantly in fostering intentional communication patterns among teams.</p>



<p>This emphasis on meaningful dialogue arises from Bruce’s acknowledgment that within organizational frameworks, teams can easily retreat into isolated spheres. Bruce recognized this issue, pointing out that many teams might opt to function within their silos and avoid conversations between teams. To overcome this, the company actively encourages these discussions, leveraging the graph as a focal point. Teams are prompted to deliberate on essential matters like whether a growth API should access a discovery API or develop their own, fostering conversations that might otherwise not take place.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In essence, this dialogue underscores Netflix&#8217;s ongoing pursuit to blend technological innovation with human interaction—leveraging tools while acknowledging the importance of human communication in steering effective developer experiences.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p><em>“[..] the developer experience to me is a multi-pronged approach [&#8230;] sometimes you&#8217;re using [&#8230;] tooling but sometimes you&#8217;re using just good old fashioned people and trying to nudge the conversation to happen.”</em></p>



<p>&#8211; <em>Bruce Wang, Director of Product Platform Systems team, Netflix</em></p>
</blockquote>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#the-journey-ahead" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="the-journey-ahead"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>The Journey Ahead</h2>



<p>In the concluding segment of the fireside chat, Matt and Bruce explored the future prospects and challenges for the Netflix API evolution. Bruce reflected on his personal journey, having transitioned from leading the API team to tackling broader, more complex projects at Netflix, such as managing tech debt and orchestrating multiple massive migrations beyond GraphQL. While the transition to GraphQL stands as a pivotal point, Bruce&#8217;s attention now gravitates toward rearchitecting the client telemetry framework, underscoring the commitment to refining and enhancing Netflix&#8217;s technical landscape. Embracing these lessons from the API journey, Bruce emphasized the importance of applying these insights across the organization, aiming to support other teams while navigating their respective challenges.&nbsp;</p>



<p>While sharing final thoughts and reflections, Matt commended the environment fostered at Netflix, describing it as an ideal crucible for technological ideas to thrive. He highlighted the unique blend of culture, product excellence, and scale that has propelled the company forward. He hoped sharing Netflix&#8217;s approach would be valuable for others on a similar path.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Bruce acknowledged that while Netflix has a strong brand, it still faces challenges and constraints like any company. Despite its size, Netflix doesn&#8217;t have infinite resources. Bruce wanted to &#8220;pierce the aura&#8221; around Netflix and convey that they grapple with similar people and design problems that others face when adopting new paradigms.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In closing, Matt noted that many of Netflix&#8217;s innovations arose from working within their constraints, such as not being able to rapidly grow their team as the number of services expanded. This forced them to find scalable, efficient solutions. The key takeaway is that while challenging, it is possible to achieve significant efficiency gains through thoughtful cultural, organizational and technical approaches &#8211; even with limited resources.</p>



<p>Watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b78Q7qY4IpI&amp;t=121s">GraphQL Summit 2023 panel discussion with Netflix</a> to learn more about the remarkable narrative of growth and adaptability within Netflix&#8217;s evolving API landscape.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>Note: Dan Boerner also&nbsp;contributed to this blog post.&nbsp;</em></p>


Redefining API Strategy: Why Netflix Platform Engineering Chose Federated GraphQL


<p>We are thrilled to announce our diversity scholarship for GraphQL Summit 2022! </p>



<p>At Apollo, we are focused on building a team that is inclusive of all demographics. We want Summit to be a reflection of that and bring together all perspectives, so we can develop and learn how the supergraph needs to evolve to serve the different needs of our customers and their end customers.</p>



<p>A diversity ticket is a fully sponsored (read: free) ticket for an individual in an underrepresented tech group. Underrepresented groups include but are not limited to: women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, and individuals facing economic or social hardships.</p>



<p>Do you qualify? If so, fill out <a href="https://forms.gle/FpFRH8r5BJqdcSpo8">this form</a> by Monday, August 29th. The 30 scholarship awardees will be informed on September 2nd.</p>



<p>Please note that the diversity ticket does not include the cost of travel or hotel accommodations.</p>



<p><strong>We’re also looking for a diversity sponsor!</strong><br>The scholarships are made possible in a joint effort with our sponsors. If you work at a company (or know one) that supports diversity in tech and would be <strong>interested in sponsoring the scholarship</strong>, simply drop us a line at <a href="mailto:summit@apollographql.com">summit@apollographql.com</a>.</p>


Announcing the 2022 GraphQL Summit diversity tickets


<p>Calling all GraphQL developers: GraphQL Summit, the world’s first and largest conference celebrating the GraphQL community is back, and we can’t wait to host you in person in sunny San Diego!</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#graphql-summit-will-take-place-at-the-sheraton-san-diego-hotel-marina-october-3-5-2022" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="graphql-summit-will-take-place-at-the-sheraton-san-diego-hotel-marina-october-3-5-2022"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a><strong>GraphQL Summit will take place at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel &amp; Marina October 3-5, 2022</strong></h3>



<p>We are aware that Summit falls on several important religious and holy days, including Yom Kippur and Dussehra. When we made the decision to host Summit in person, there were limited dates and availability at conference venues able to host a group our size. Ultimately, it came down to whether or not to host GraphQL Summit during this time or go 100% virtual again. We recognize that some GraphQL community members observe these important days and may choose not to participate in Summit. Talk recordings will be available after the event.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="#graphql-summit-call-for-proposals-due-june-29" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="graphql-summit-call-for-proposals-due-june-29"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a>GraphQL Summit: Call for Proposals (due June 29)</h3>



<p>Interested in speaking at GraphQL Summit? All talks will be in person this year, and the deadline for talk submissions is June 29. Speakers will be notified of their acceptance by July 8.</p>



<p><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefxh14DJbhIIy1meXw6JAiXw_Nv6NTsGBfjmigZCqBs7_FwQ/viewform" target="_blank">Submit your talk proposal &gt;</a></p>



<p>We love talks that focus on real developer use cases and teach the audience something new. To help spark some ideas, we&#8217;ve included some suggested talk topics, but please don&#8217;t limit yourself to our list:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>Supergraph</strong>: Federated schema design, building a subgraph in Java/Kotlin, Ruby, Go, Python, Rust, and C#, customizing the Apollo Router, caching, onboarding new teams, sharing types between subgraphs, breaking up a monolith, understanding query plans.</li><li><strong>Best practices</strong>: Schema design, demand control, testing, caching, TypeScript codegen, defer/stream, schema change management, authentication and authorization, error handling, CI/CD, observability, data governance, serverless deployments.</li><li><strong>Client</strong>: SSR, modern React (Suspense and Server Components), client performance, client caching and normalization, pagination, mocking, local state management, networking, iOS and Android clients.</li><li><strong>Future of GraphQL</strong>: New proposals to the GraphQL spec, new GraphQL compilers, interesting use cases (Web3, iOT, AR/VR, data science).</li></ul>



<p><strong>Benefits: </strong>All speakers will receive a conference ticket and 1 buddy pass, an invitation to an exclusive speakers&#8217; dinner, access to the speaker lounge, and a high-quality video recording of your talk. We will also provide 4 nights at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and round trip economy airfare to San Diego, CA if your employer can&#8217;t sponsor your travel.</p>



<p><strong>Inclusion: </strong>GraphQL Summit welcomes all developers, and we&#8217;re committed to promoting an inclusive environment at our conference. Our speaker lineup will reflect a diverse balance of races, genders, and backgrounds, and we encourage developers belonging to underrepresented groups in tech to apply.</p>



<p><strong>First-time speakers: </strong>If you need help vetting your proposal, please contact us at <a href="mailto:speakers@graphql.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">speakers@graphql.com</a>. We can help coach you on your content and presentation if your talk is accepted.</p>



<p><strong>Code of Conduct: </strong>All attendees, speakers, employees, and volunteers at our conference are required to agree to our Code of Conduct: <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/community/code-of-conduct/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.apollographql.com/docs/community/code-of-conduct/</a></p>



<p><strong>Terms &amp; Conditions: </strong>All attendees are required to accept the <a href="https://summit.graphql.com/2022-apollo-event-registration-agreement.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">event terms and conditions</a>. As a speaker, we also ask that you sign a <a href="https://summit.graphql.com/apollo-speaker-consent-and-release.pdf" data-type="URL" data-id="https://summit.graphql.com/apollo-speaker-consent-and-release.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">speaker release form</a>.</p>



<p>Stay tuned for announcements on the official registration launch, workshop enrollment, hotel discounts, and more! For now, add the event to your calendar, you won’t want to miss this!<br><a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?dates=20221003T160000Z/20221005T2[%E2%80%A6]%B4%0A%0AStay+tuned+for+details+on+how+to+register.&amp;sf=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Add to Google Cal &gt;</a><br><a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/eventedit?dates=20221003T160000Z/20221005T2[…]%B4%0A%0AStay+tuned+for+details+on+how+to+register.&amp;sf=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Add to iCal &gt;</a></p>


Mark Your Calendar: GraphQL Summit is Back, Submit your Talk Proposals Now!


<h1 class="wp-block-heading"></h1>



<p>Two weeks ago, we hosted a<a href="https://www.apollographql.com/events/tech-talk/from-schema-stitching-to-federation-expedias-journey/"> webinar with Shane Myrick</a>, Senior Software Developer at Expedia Group entitled, “From Schema Stitching to Federation: Expedia’s Journey.” Shane’s talk covered Expedia’s motivation for adopting GraphQL and why they needed a distributed approach for managing their graph.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Prior to adopting GraphQL, the Expedia Group faced the challenge of delivering a wide array of travel experiences across a growing number of platforms and clients. Expedia adopted GraphQL as a way to simplify the connection layer between their backend capabilities and front-end clients. The graph provides a single point for clients to connect to and for service teams to expose to clients. Adopting the graph helped Expedia reduce the friction and the number of connections and coordination points across their boundary layers. They also saw benefits from adopting a strongly typed language and the performance benefits of adopting a declarative language that allows clients to request just the data they need. Lastly, they saw benefits in being able to extend and merge common types.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="543" src="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6433ea44846ed12bb2-1024x543.png" alt="" class="wp-image-22924" srcset="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6433ea44846ed12bb2-1024x543.png 1024w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6433ea44846ed12bb2-300x159.png 300w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6433ea44846ed12bb2-768x407.png 768w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6433ea44846ed12bb2-1200x637.png 1200w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6433ea44846ed12bb2.png 1276w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p><em>Building a graph across Expedia’s suite of travel products</em></p>



<p><strong>Scaling their graph with schema stitching</strong></p>



<p>As Expedia began to add more capabilities to their graph, they were concerned about it becoming a single point of failure and preventing conflicts as the number of contributors to their graph increased.</p>



<p>A core requirement was that they wanted to have one schema and one endpoint for their clients while allowing individual teams to own their services and update those services on their cadence. Expedia started using a gateway as a layer between their GraphQL services and their clients to achieve this. They started off using schema stitching as a way to merge types.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="534" src="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6482536c5e195d99f-1024x534.png" alt="" class="wp-image-22929" srcset="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6482536c5e195d99f-1024x534.png 1024w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6482536c5e195d99f-300x157.png 300w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6482536c5e195d99f-768x401.png 768w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6482536c5e195d99f-1200x626.png 1200w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase6482536c5e195d99f.png 1276w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p><em>Using a gateway to provide a single endpoint for developers across services</em></p>



<p>However, one downside of schema stitching is that Expedia needed to write a significant amount of gateway code to link types across different services. Shane walked through an example of how Expedia wrote code in their gateway to extend a type from their property service to include another type from their reviews service so that clients could query reviews by property. This code enabled the gateway to understand what types existed in different services and merged and extended the schema.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="894" height="728" src="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase64d41caef3915787fa.png" alt="" class="wp-image-22931" srcset="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase64d41caef3915787fa.png 894w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase64d41caef3915787fa-300x244.png 300w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pngbase64d41caef3915787fa-768x625.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 894px) 100vw, 894px" /></figure>



<p><em>Writing custom stitching code in the gateway.</em></p>



<p><strong>Challenges emerge with schema stitching</strong></p>



<p>As they introduced more stitching code in their gateway, challenges emerged. Their gateway code was becoming more complex, and there was no way to determine the “true schema” without running the gateway. Schema changes required a change to the underlying service and changes to the gateway code and a redeploy of all gateways. This complexity started to cause issues with managing their infrastructure. Additionally, Expedia began to be concerned about preventing conflicts when managing updates to their gateway code.</p>



<p><strong>Moving to Apollo Federation for their graph architecture</strong></p>



<p>When Apollo Federation was <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/blog/announcement/apollo-federation-f260cf525d21/">announced</a> in 2019, Expedia began investigating it as an alternative to schema stitching. They liked that<a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/federation/"> Federation</a> was published as an open-source <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/federation/federation-spec/">specification</a> and its declarative, directive-based approach to merging types. Federation’s support for all GraphQL servers was compelling as Expedia had invested a lot in Kotlin and even open-sourced their own<a href="https://github.com/ExpediaGroup/graphql-kotlin"> GraphQL Kotlin</a> server.</p>



<p>With Federation, Expedia could use GraphQL directives to extend services without writing any custom gateway code. They did have to write resolver code in the underlying service to extend the type, but this was easier than the stitching approach as each team could own the evolution of its service.</p>



<p>Expedia saw the following benefits from adopting federation:</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Standardized the implementation as developers could follow the declarative approach to writing schemas.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Able to do offline composition and validation of the schema without spinning up a gateway.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Changed the coordination across teams to review gateway code to have a more strategic conversation about the schema architecture and design. The federated approach made reviewing changes to the schema easier as people reviewed the schema files vs. reviewing many lines of code.</li>
</ol>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="559" src="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-11-1024x559.png" alt="image.png" class="wp-image-8113" srcset="https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-11-1024x559.png 1024w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-11-300x164.png 300w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-11-768x420.png 768w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-11-1200x655.png 1200w, https://wp.apollographql.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-11.png 1276w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p> <em>Example of service level resolver code to extend a type across services</em></p>



<p><strong>Making the switch</strong></p>



<p>To safely migrate from stitching to Federation, Expedia first worked with the individual service teams to add the necessary federated directives, schemas, and resolver code to their GraphQL servers. Then Expedia set up two separate Apollo servers: one using schema stitching and one set up for Apollo Federation. They set up two variants in Apollo Studio’s schema registry to reflect the two different setups. They used a traffic router in front of the gateways to route traffic between the two graphs, eventually ramping up to a 50/50 split between the stitching and federated gateways.</p>



<p><strong>Benefits from moving from schema stitching to federation</strong></p>



<p>By running schema stitching versus Apollo Federation as an A/B test, Expedia was able to quantify the impact of moving to Federation, and they were pleased to see some immediate benefits. First, the federated implementation improved gateway processing latency which improved application performance compared to schema stitching. As Shane explained, “With Federation, we saw a reduced latency compared to schema stitching. Because there was a reduced latency, we were able to reduce our compute quite significantly by about 50%” Lastly, Expedia was able to delete many lines of gateway code which simplified their gateway deployments. Now, they can use almost a stock version of the gateway, making it easy for them to scale the gateway across their many brands since they no longer have much custom code in the gateway.</p>



<p><strong>Key takeaways from moving to Federation</strong></p>



<p>After moving to Federation, Shane says Expedia solved key customer and client problems by providing a single endpoint while ensuring that the service teams could independently deploy their changes. They also were able to reduce the potential impact of the gateway going down. They could remove the friction of having to work with multiple code bases to modify the schema. Additionally, they found the declarative approach of the Federation was more straightforward, which made it easier for teams to understand what’s happening and see the overall architecture, which elevated the discussions around the graph and reduced the coordination and complexity of scaling the graph.</p>



<p>To learn more about how Expedia’s journey from Schema Stitching to Federation, you can watch Shane’s talk<a href="https://www.apollographql.com/events/tech-talk/from-schema-stitching-to-federation-expedias-journey/"> on-demand</a> now.&nbsp; If you are looking to move from stitching to Apollo Federation, we’ve built a <a href="https://www.apollographql.com/docs/federation/migrating-from-stitching/">migration guide</a>.</p>


Moving from Schema Stitching to Federation: How Expedia improved performance


<p>We’re excited to announce that our engineers are hosting the next round of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/apollo-day-nyc-tickets-59699187878?aff=Blog" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apollo Days in NYC on May 14</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/apollo-day-san-francisco-tickets-59853663920?aff=Blog" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">San Francisco on May 22</a>.<br><br>If you’re rolling out GraphQL at your company, whether just getting started or scaling a production deployment, attending an Apollo Day will help you implement practical steps to modernize your apps using GraphQL. You will learn how to:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Plot a strategy to adopt GraphQL on top of existing REST APIs and microservices</li><li>Create a GraphQL microservices architecture by composing schemas into one graph for your company</li><li>Manage local and remote state in React apps seamlessly</li><li>Implement a build/test/deploy workflow that allows product teams to safely make changes to their schema</li><li>Monitor GraphQL-specific performance and errors, integrated with your existing systems like Datadog, PagerDuty, Slack, etc.</li></ul>



<p>Come learn best practices from the experts at Apollo and hear technical talks from engineers at companies like&nbsp;<strong>Expedia</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>NY Times</strong>&nbsp;already using it in production.<br><br><strong>SAMPLE AGENDA</strong></p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>12:00pm-1:00pm Check-in &amp; Lunch</li><li>1:00pm-1:30pm Welcome and Keynote</li><li>1:30pm-2:30pm Ask the Experts: A hands-on Apollo platform demo followed by a Q&amp;A session with Apollo engineers</li><li>2:30–3:00pm Coffee break and networking</li><li>3:00–3:30pm The GraphQL developer experience</li><li>3:30–4:30pm Technical deep dives with customers and community members</li><li>4:30–5:00pm Fireside discussion with an Apollo executive and special guest</li><li>5:00–7:00pm Cocktails &amp; Networking</li></ul>



<p>Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from and network with some of the leading GraphQL experts in the US.<br><br><strong>Sign up now for&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/apollo-day-nyc-tickets-59699187878?aff=Blog" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>NYC on May 14</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/apollo-day-san-francisco-tickets-59853663920?aff=Blog" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>San Francisco on May 22</strong></a></p>


Events

How PlayStation Optimized Performance and Revenue for Their Digital Store with GraphQL Federation

How Realtor.com Achieved Technological and Cultural Transformation with GraphQL

Join Us at API Days in New York City, April 30 & May 1, 2024

How Wayfair achieved GraphQL success with federated GraphQL

Apollo GraphQL Announces the Next GraphQL Summit Amid Rapid GraphQL Enterprise Adoption

Redefining API Strategy: Why Netflix Platform Engineering Chose Federated GraphQL

Announcing the 2022 GraphQL Summit diversity tickets

Past posts

Mark Your Calendar: GraphQL Summit is Back, Submit your Talk Proposals Now!

Moving from Schema Stitching to Federation: How Expedia improved performance

Join us for Apollo Day in NYC and San Francisco in May

Events

How PlayStation Optimized Performance and Revenue for Their Digital Store with GraphQL Federation

How Realtor.com Achieved Technological and Cultural Transformation with GraphQL

Join Us at API Days in New York City, April 30 & May 1, 2024

How Wayfair achieved GraphQL success with federated GraphQL

Apollo GraphQL Announces the Next GraphQL Summit Amid Rapid GraphQL Enterprise Adoption

Redefining API Strategy: Why Netflix Platform Engineering Chose Federated GraphQL

Announcing the 2022 GraphQL Summit diversity tickets

Past posts

Mark Your Calendar: GraphQL Summit is Back, Submit your Talk Proposals Now!

Moving from Schema Stitching to Federation: How Expedia improved performance

Join us for Apollo Day in NYC and San Francisco in May

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