REST vs GraphQL vs gRPC 🤯 | API Design Basics for System Design Interviews

Description

Confused between REST, GraphQL, and gRPC? 🤔 👉 This is one of the most important API design concepts in system design interviews—and most candidates get it wrong. In this video, you’ll learn how to choose the right API style based on real-world scenarios 🚀 🔥 In this video, you’ll learn: What is REST API What is GraphQL What is gRPC Key differences between REST vs GraphQL vs gRPC When to use each in real systems Performance and scalability trade-offs 🧠 Why This Matters Most candidates: ❌ Say “use REST” for everything ❌ Don’t understand trade-offs ❌ Ignore performance needs Top candidates: ✔ Choose API based on use case ✔ Explain trade-offs clearly ✔ Think in terms of performance & scalability ⚡ Simple Mental Model REST = Simple & widely used GraphQL = Flexible data fetching gRPC = High performance (low latency) 🔥 Choose based on system requirements. 💡 Real Interview Insight A strong answer sounds like: 👉 “We can use REST for public APIs, GraphQL for flexible client queries, and gRPC for internal service-to-service communication.” 🔥 This shows senior-level thinking. 🎯 Perfect for: Software Engineers Backend Developers SDE-2 / Senior role aspirants FAANG / Product-based company preparation 🔁 If this helped you… Share it with a friend preparing for interviews 🙌 Because API design is asked in almost every system design round 🚀