One initiative to improve this could be the Graph, described as “an indexing protocol for querying networks like Ethereum and IPFS.” The protocol allows developers to create open APIs with open data access, called subgraphs.
One of the significant hurdles of creating a decentralized app (dApp) is the difficulty of querying and utilizing data from a blockchain or various “off-chain” solutions. When using dApps, especially ones that run with the Ethereum blockchain, there isn’t a complete list of data is saved within the Blockchain. There are usually decentralized storage networks involved, such as The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). In addition, the inherent difficulty of blockchains in terms of their dimensions, “gas fees” and other issues creates an unfriendly environment for developers to develop an API (application programming interface).
What The Graph Is
The Graph is a decentralized protocol to index and query information from blockchains beginning with Ethereum. It allows you to query data that are difficult to access directly.
Projects that use complicated smart contracts such as the Uniswap and NFTs initiatives like Bored Ape Yacht Club save information within the Ethereum blockchain. It isn’t easy to access any other data than the basic ones straight from the blockchain.
For example, we can locate the owner of an Ape or determine its content-URI by analyzing its ID or total supply in the case of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. The read functions are built straight into the smart contract. However, more sophisticated real-world queries and other operations such as aggregation relationship, search, and filters that aren’t trivial are not feasible. For instance, if we would like to look up Apes owned by an address and filter based on its attributes, we wouldn’t obtain this information directly with the contract.
How Does The Graph Work?
The Graph tries to index all the bored ape’s information — including the smart contract and assets saved on IPFS and elsewhere. The index will be made available to developers. The APIs associated with the data, also known as “subgraphs,” can be searched using an existing GraphQL API.
The subgraph’s indexes are persistent through the “subgraph manifest.” The document defines the smart contracts that are important for each subgraph, the particular instances that the contracts must be aware of and how to translate these events into the information. The Graph will store in its database, and the manifest will be kept in IPFS.
The Graph protocol relies on a complex consensus mechanism like other blockchain projects. Yaniv Tal, the project’s director and co-founder, says work is wind up by an open network of participants, including indexers, who run the infrastructure. Curators organize data and Delegators, which adds security to the network by staking their tokens. As of 2021, there were “160 Indexers, 7,400+ Delegators, and 2,200+ Curators.”
The Graph currently only supports Ethereum and compatible blockchains, but “Solana, Cosmos, and Polkadot integrations are on the way.” Tal also emphasized the importance of “off-chain data access from places like storage networks and peer-to-peer databases,” both are getting started working.
The Graph has spent the majority of its time so far building up its Ethereum and IPFS data stores. However, the blockchain community as a whole has a lot more information. There is still much work to be done to provide APIs with full features as we’ve come to expect in the Web 2.0 world.
The Web3 API
The team behind The Graph protocol faces numerous technical challenges, not the least of which is scaling to accommodate multiple blockchain platforms. Furthermore, the “off-chain” data ecosystem is complex, and it is unclear how different storage solutions are compatible with one another.
The team behind The Graph protocol faces numerous technical challenges, not the least of which is scaling to accommodate multiple blockchain platforms. Furthermore, the “off-chain” data ecosystem is complex, and it is unclear how different storage solutions are compatible with one another.
However, as with any other blockchain technology at this time, it remains to be seen whether The Graph can become as influential in Web3 as MuleSoft was.
However, as with any other blockchain technology at this point, it remains to be seen whether The Graph can become as influential in Web3 as MuleSoft was in Web 2.0.
