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Best resources to learnGraphQL & REST APIs

Study sheet

REST and GraphQL are the two main ways web clients talk to servers. You will learn resource design, schemas, queries and mutations, versioning, authentication and when each style fits.

6 resources · · How we curate

📚Books(2)

bookPaid

Production Ready GraphQL

The standard reference for GraphQL beyond the basics, and the natural next step after graphql.org/learn. A language-agnostic book on running GraphQL APIs in production. It covers schema design, schema evolution and deprecation, performance and N+1 problems, query cost and security limits, tooling and workflows, and GraphQL server architecture, plus a schema design checklist.

intermediate🇬🇧
bookPaid

The Design of Web APIs, Second Edition

The best way in for someone new to the topic. A practical guide to designing web APIs around what their consumers need. It covers REST operations and resource identification, OpenAPI and JSON Schema documentation, access control and scopes, versioning without breaking changes, linting and governance, and how the ideas carry over to GraphQL and gRPC.

beginner🇬🇧

🌐Websites(3)

website

Google API Improvement Proposals (AIPs)

Google's public set of API design decisions, written as numbered proposals. Start with AIP-121 on resource-oriented design, then read the standard methods, pagination, field masks, long-running operations, errors and versioning. An API linter enforces the rules. This is the most rigorous public treatment of resource modelling, and it is the free primary source behind Geewax's book. Rated advanced because each proposal assumes you already know REST basics.

advanced🇬🇧
website

Zalando RESTful API and Event Guidelines

Zalando's open-source, production-tested rulebook for designing REST APIs. It covers resource naming and URLs, HTTP methods and idempotency, status codes, versioning and deprecation, OAuth2 scopes, cursor pagination, JSON formats and OpenAPI 3.1. It is the best free, practical answer to 'how should a REST API look' on versioning, auth and pagination.

intermediate🇬🇧
website

Learn GraphQL (official guide)

The GraphQL Foundation's official guide. It covers schemas and types, queries, mutations, subscriptions, validation and execution, then moves on to best practices for authorization, pagination, caching, security, error handling, federation and schema governance. It has been expanded well beyond the basics and now includes 14 best-practice lessons and a schema-governance section, so it covers the whole topic note on the GraphQL side.

beginner🇬🇧

📄Papers(1)

paper

Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures, Chapter 5: Representational State Transfer (REST)

The chapter of Roy Fielding's 2000 doctoral dissertation that defined REST. It builds up the style constraint by constraint (client-server, stateless, cache, uniform interface, layered system, code-on-demand) and defines resources, representations and connectors. The original source, and it settles what REST actually means, as opposed to 'JSON over HTTP'.

advanced🇬🇧
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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best free resources to learn GraphQL & REST APIs?

Dantes has curated 6 resources for GraphQL & REST APIs, including 2 books, 3 websites, 1 papers. All resources are hand-picked for quality — no algorithmic filler. Browse the full list above to find the format that works best for you.

Is GraphQL & REST APIs hard to learn?

GraphQL & REST APIs is approachable at the beginner level — there are resources here specifically for those starting from scratch. As you progress, intermediate and advanced material is also available to take your skills further.

What types of GraphQL & REST APIs learning resources are available on Dantes?

For GraphQL & REST APIs, Dantes has curated 2 books, 3 websites, 1 papers. Each resource type serves a different learning style: videos and YouTube for visual learners, books for depth, courses for structured progression, and websites for quick reference.

How does Dantes select GraphQL & REST APIs resources?

Dantes is an algorithm-free learning directory. Resources are hand-curated based on quality, accuracy, and usefulness — not engagement metrics or paid placements. The goal is to surface the best learning material for GraphQL & REST APIs, whether it's a free YouTube series, a classic textbook, or an open courseware from a top university.

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