In Relay GraphQL, connections and lists are both array-like, but they have different features. When should I use each?
1 Answers
63
votes
Connections
- More powerful and flexible than simple lists.
- Support pagination (forward and back), with cursors.
- Fine-grained mutation support (eg.
RANGE_ADD
,RANGE_DELETE
,NODE_DELETE
, as described in the guide). - Requires a
first
orlast
argument in order to limit the size of the result set. - Has an
edges
field that provides a place to locate per-edge, edge-specific data. - A heavier-weight concept, requiring more work to define in the schema.
Lists
- Simple and lightweight.
- No support for pagination (the entire list is always returned).
- No special mutations features for prepending, appending etc (although it is a requested feature).
Which to use?
- Whenever you need pagination, you should use a connection.
- If you need fine-grained control over mutations, you may choose to use a connection, even if you don't need pagination.
- If you want all the items in a connection, you can use
first
with some large number. - If you want to expose a short list with minimal effort, use a simple list.