How to Upgrade Your Database to Instantaneous API

The value of APIs has gradually became well-recognized over the past decade, but it is the tools like Hasura and Graphile that make it possible for companies to take full advantage of their potential.

Whether you're pursuing a microservices architecture or simply looking for a more efficient and user-friendly way to fetch data, making the move to instantaneous API is a step in the right direction.

What is Instantaneous API?

Application Programming Interface in simple terms is a software that intermediates between two applications, by which the communication between the two is made possible.

Every time someone uses an application like LinkedIn, Facebook, sending instant messages, checking the index fund and other interactions, an API is being used.

One of the earliest attempts at instantaneous API was InstantAPI, which was unveiled at TechCrunch in 2014.

In the years since, many iterations and new players have come into the market, with modern solutions looking to solve multiple hurdles while offering specific benefits to companies adopting microservices.

Instant GraphQL is an extremely popular solution, actually created by Facebook.

Facebook created GraphQL when they realized the need for a data-fetching API that was powerful, yet simple for product developers to learn and use.

Now, GraphQL has become the go-to query language for a lot of instantaneous API tools.

Best Instantaneous upgradable API tools

Whether you're looking for an all-inclusive API management platform or simply a solution that makes building APIs fast, or even automatic, the following platforms are the biggest players in the game right now.

Understanding the focus, features, and limitations of each of these platforms is paramount to making the best selection for your company, so let's take a closer look.

Hasura

Hasura brings Instant GraphQL to all of your company's data, and it makes big promises as to how that can change things.

With Hasura, the platform promises you can build "blazingly fast" APIs using GraphQL and REST.

What's more, authorization and caching are built into the platform.

The result?

Hasura says you can build modern apps and APIs 10 times faster.

As an open-source platform, Hasura is definitely an option worth considering. You can run it locally or in the cloud and easily connect it to any existing or new database in a snap, instantly producing GraphQL APIs that you can use to start querying your data.

Developers and architects love Hasura because it takes no time to get started, doesn’t need them to be a GraphQL expert upfront, and saves their teams months of recurring effort in building, shipping, and maintaining their APIs. According to Hasure.

Security features make it easy to expose APIs internally or externally, giving companies control over their data while allowing them to productize value.

If you want to try it for yourself, Hasura offers a quick onboarding process to get you started in just 30 seconds.

Like other modern API solutions, Hasura positions itself as user-friendly with promises of a quick start and tools that even less tech-savvy users can make use of.

However, you'll need to ask yourself where to strike a balance between features and simplicity as you compare Hasura to its biggest competitors.

Supabase

More than simply instant APIs, Supabase calls itself the open-source Firebase alternative.

Real-time subscriptions, authentication, storage, and postgres databases can all be configured from within the sleek platform, and serverless functions are being added soon, too.

All of that, and Supabase promises that developers can create a backend in under two minutes.

Supabase's instant APIs take the legwork out of the equation.

We introspect your database to provide APIs instantly. Stop building repetitive CRUD endpoints and focus on your product. According to Supabase insight.

When it comes to flexibility, you can run Supabase locally using an emulator or with a CDN.

As an enterprise-ready suite of tools, Supabase is ready to scale with your company's growth for reliable performance.

If you're looking for a robust tool that does it all so you don't have to leave the dashboard, Supabase is a worthy option.

Here, you'll need to ask yourself: Do you really need an all-encompassing solution and can Supabase get the job done for your company with its included features?

Graphile

If your company requires a full-stack application development tool that will kick-start every project, Graphile is the way to go.

Right out of the box, Graphile Starter gives your teams the foundations of a modern web app, including registration, session management, job queue, tooling, and tests.

Database tools, like Graphile Worker and Graphile Migrate, further round out the Graphile toolkit, enabling developers to run jobs in the background with increasingly fast speeds.

All of Graphile's tools are crowd-funded and open-source, which adds to the power and extensibility of this expanding platform.

Of course, the Graphile Engine is likely of the utmost interest for companies seeking instant APIs, as this is where the database-independent "heart" of the operation lies.

As Graphile describes it,

It's an extremely powerful way to build extensible automatic GraphQL APIs over any data source.

Conclusion

Is your company considering the move to instantaneous APIs?

Making the move can be daunting, but it's sure to be exciting as stakeholders realize the perks.

However, while there are countless benefits to realize, attempting to take the leap without the right platform to support the transition and implementation of instant APIs is bound to set you back.

Adopting instant APIs should propel your company forward into the emerging era of API management.

Comparing these popular platforms is a good start, but this isn't where your research should end.

As experts in the industry, Adservio can help you figure out the best solution and go about implementing it in the most effective manner possible.

‍Contact us to learn more.