REST vs. GraphQL vs. gRPC
Three ways to build an API, often listed together as if they were one skill. REST is the default for almost every web API. GraphQL lets an app ask for exactly the data it needs in one request and is popular with frontend-heavy products. gRPC is a fast, strict format used mostly for services talking to each other inside a company. A frontend developer who 'used GraphQL' may only have called it; building the server side is a different job.
How to tell them apart on a resume
REST
HTTP methods, JSON, OpenAPI/Swagger, Postman, status codes, versioning — public and internal APIs of almost every kind.
GraphQL
Apollo, schemas, resolvers, queries and mutations, Relay, federation — product apps with a heavy frontend or mobile client.
gRPC
Protobuf, service-to-service calls, streaming, Go or Java backends, low latency — internal microservices at larger tech companies.
The question that settles it
“Did you build the API server yourself or call an existing one — and why was REST, GraphQL or gRPC the right fit there?”
Read the full definitions
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