API Design · Senior · Question 45 of 75

What's the trade-off of exposing a generic query API (e.g. OData filters or raw GraphQL access to all data)?

1There is no trade-off
✓Correct answer: Flexibility for clients versus hard-to-predict performance, harder authorization and a huge contract surface you must keep compatible
3Generic APIs are always faster

Explanation

Constrain what can be queried and measure actual usage before widening it.

Further reading

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