How I learned Apollo GraphQL Client

About me

My name is Hector Johnson, I am a freelance web developer. I specialize in javaScript and User Experience design. I love writing React and can write it for food. I also bring empathy to whatever I do, mostly in user experience design, because I feel that's what helps make a great product. I've worked on several projects built in Vanilla JavaScript and ReactJS.

Why I wanted to learn Apollo GraphQL Client

I recently participated in the Facebook Dev C Hackathon, which required we consume at least one of Facebook's product. Because everyone on the team was already familiar with using React and it's workflow, we decided to make it a bit more challenging by using a Facebook tool we're weren't familiar with prior the Hackathon challenge, which happened to be GraphQL. Because i was working on the front end of the product we were building for the hackathon challenge, to consume the data coming from the GraphQL endpoint, it's either we use Apollo Client or Relay. As a team, we decided to go with Apollo graphql client to spin things faster. Because we discovered there was a lot of learning curve required with Relay, which at the time, we didn't have the luxury to gamble on that. So I had to learn Apollo GraphQL Client to complete my tasks for the Hackathon challenge.

How I approached learning Apollo GraphQL Client

First off, I started by checking out a quick video tutorial on Youtube, which helped to give me an overview on what the tool is all about. Then I went straight to their Documentation to get a more detailed information on the tool. And the fact that I was able to use the tool effectively over a short period of time to complete my tasks, was so exciting.

Challenges I faced

One of the challenges I faced was resolving the version used on the video tutorial I watched which was Apollo 1.0, over the latest version Apollo 2.0. Also the fact that Apollo 2.0 doesn't support using it with redux to manage the application state, as opposed to the version 1.0, it took me a while to figure it out, which I had to remove Redux to use Flux.

Key takeaways

My key take aways would be that, it's possible to learn anything when we're so driven.

Tips and advice

Because GraphQL is the future of consuming an API, and Apollo GraphQL Client as a tool that makes it possible to get data GraphQL to the user, i'll encourage anyone contemplating learning GraphQL to take a spin on using Apollo GraphQL Client 2.0.

Final thoughts and next steps

I am still exploring using it to gain a deeper understanding of how it works. And because it's an open source project, I have plans to contribute to the project in the future.