Prisma: GraphQL Infrastructure with Soren Bramer Schmidt

GraphQL allows developers to communicate with all of their different data backends through a consistent query interface. A GraphQL query can be translated into queries to MySQL, MongoDB, ElasticSearch, or whatever kind of API or backend is needed to fulfill the GraphQL query. GraphQL users need to set up a GraphQL server to fulfill this query federation.

Prisma is a tool for automatically generating a GraphQL API and serving GraphQL queries. The developer defines a data model and deploys with Prisma. Prisma generates the necessary GraphQL infrastructure to serve queries from the developer’s database. This can allow the developer to get up and running faster than they would setting up GraphQL infrastructure and defining the middleware query layer by hand.

Prisma is an open source project, but it is also a company. The opportunities to build a business around a GraphQL infrastructure layer are numerous.

In recent episodes, we have explored the complexities of the “data platform.” From newer companies like Uber to older companies like Procter and Gamble, engineers are struggling to find and access their data sources. Data engineers and data scientists spend months configuring their infrastructure to connect to BI tools and run distributed queries.

GraphQL could simplify data platforms by providing a unified, standardized layer. At this layer, you could also offer caching, virtual data sets, and crowdsourced queries from across the company.

Soren Bramer Schmidt is the CTO and co-founder of Prisma, and he joins the show to discuss why GraphQL has become so popular, how Prisma works, and the opportunities to build developer tooling around GraphQL.

Show Notes

• What Is GraphQL? – YouTube
• Top 5 Reasons to Use GraphQL | Prisma
• Prisma | Open-Source GraphQL ORM for GraphQL Servers
• Prisma GraphQL API | Features
• Declarative Data Modeling | Prisma Features
• Supported Databases | Prisma
• Prisma Query Engine | Prisma transforms queries for optimal performance
• Prisma Bindings | “GraphQL ORM” layer to simplify your resolvers
• Prisma GraphQL API | Features
• Prisma Introduction: What, Why & How | Prisma Docs
• Prisma Basics: Server, Services & Data Model | Prisma Docs
• HashBang episode 6: Prisma with Johannes Schickling of Graphcool – YouTube
• Breaking up the monolith: A layered GraphQL architecture – Johannes Schickling @ GraphQL Europe 2018 – YouTube
• Prisma – YouTube
• Trying out Prisma GraphQL – YouTube
• What is Prisma? – YouTube

SE Daily

Transcript

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