Azure Functions Core Tools<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nStep 1: Create a new Azure Functions project<\/h2>\n
To create a new Azure Functions project, open Visual Studio Code and navigate to File > New Folder. Create a new folder for your project and open it in Visual Studio Code.<\/p>\n
Next, open the terminal in Visual Studio Code by pressing Ctrl+Shift+(backtick) on Windows or Cmd+Shift+<\/code> (backtick) on macOS. Run the following command to create a new Azure Functions project:<\/p>\nfunc init MyProject\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis will create a new folder called MyProject<\/code> in your current directory with the necessary files for an Azure Functions project.<\/p>\nStep 2: Create a new Azure Function<\/h2>\n
Next, we need to create a new Azure Function that will serve as our GraphQL API endpoint. In the terminal, navigate to the MyProject<\/code> folder and run the following command:<\/p>\nfunc new\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis will open a prompt asking for some information about our new function. Enter the following:<\/p>\n
\nHTTP trigger<\/code> as the template (use the arrow keys to navigate and Enter to select)<\/li>\nGraphQLApi<\/code> as the name of the function (you can use any name you like)<\/li>\nAnonymous<\/code> as the authorization level (since we don\u2019t need authentication for this tutorial)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nOnce you have entered this information, hit Enter to create the function.<\/p>\n
Step 3: Install the required dependencies<\/h2>\n
Now that we have created our Azure Function, we need to install the required dependencies for our GraphQL API.<\/p>\n
First, navigate to the GraphQLApi<\/code> folder that was created in the previous step:<\/p>\ncd GraphQLApi\n<\/code><\/pre>\nNext, run the following command to install the required dependencies:<\/p>\n
npm install apollo-server-azure-functions graphql\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis will install the apollo-server-azure-functions<\/code> package, which provides the integration between Apollo and Azure Functions, as well as the graphql<\/code> package, which we will use to define our schema.<\/p>\nStep 4: Define the GraphQL schema<\/h2>\n
Now we need to define our GraphQL schema. In the GraphQLApi<\/code> folder, create a new file called schema.js<\/code>. In this file, we will define our schema using the graphql<\/code> package.<\/p>\nconst { gql } = require('apollo-server-azure-functions');\n\nconst typeDefs = gql`\n type Query {\n hello: String\n }\n`;\n\nmodule.exports = typeDefs;\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis defines a very simple schema with one query called hello<\/code> that returns a string.<\/p>\nStep 5: Implement the resolver<\/h2>\n
Now that we have defined our schema, we need to implement the resolver for our hello<\/code> query. In the GraphQLApi<\/code> folder, create a new file called resolvers.js<\/code>. In this file, we will define our resolver for the hello<\/code> query.<\/p>\nconst resolvers = {\n Query: {\n hello: () => 'Hello, world!'\n }\n};\n\nmodule.exports = resolvers;\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis simply returns the string “Hello, world!” when the hello<\/code> query is executed.<\/p>\nStep 6: Update the Azure Function to use Apollo<\/h2>\n
Now that we have defined our schema and resolver, we need to update our Azure Function to use Apollo to handle GraphQL queries.<\/p>\n
In the GraphQLApi<\/code> folder, open the index.js<\/code> file. This is the main file for our Azure Function.<\/p>\nFirst, we need to import the necessary packages:<\/p>\n
const { ApolloServer, gql } = require('apollo-server-azure-functions');\nconst typeDefs = require('.\/schema');\nconst resolvers = require('.\/resolvers');\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis imports the ApolloServer<\/code> and gql<\/code> objects from the apollo-server-azure-functions<\/code> package, as well as our schema and resolver modules.<\/p>\nNext, we need to create an instance of ApolloServer<\/code>:<\/p>\nconst server = new ApolloServer({\n typeDefs,\n resolvers,\n playground: true,\n introspection: true\n});\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis creates an instance of ApolloServer<\/code> with our schema and resolver, and enables the GraphQL Playground and introspection.<\/p>\nFinally, we need to export a function that calls the createHandler<\/code> method of ApolloServer<\/code>:<\/p>\nmodule.exports = server.createHandler();\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis function will be invoked whenever a GraphQL query is executed against our Azure Function.<\/p>\n
Step 7: Deploy the Azure Function to the cloud<\/h2>\n
Now that we have created our serverless GraphQL API with Azure Functions and Apollo, we need to deploy it to the cloud so that it can be accessed by clients.<\/p>\n
To deploy our Azure Function, we can use the Azure CLI. First, make sure you are logged in to your Azure account by running the following command:<\/p>\n
az login\n<\/code><\/pre>\nNext, navigate to the MyProject<\/code> folder in the terminal and run the following command to deploy the function:<\/p>\nfunc azure functionapp publish MyFunctionApp --force\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThis will deploy the MyFunctionApp<\/code> function app to Azure. Once the deployment is complete, you can access your GraphQL API endpoint by navigating to `https:\/\/MyFunctionApp.azurewebsites.net\/api\/GraphQLApi`.<\/p>\nStep 8: Test the GraphQL API<\/h2>\n
Now that our GraphQL API is deployed, we can test it using the GraphQL Playground.<\/p>\n
Navigate to `https:\/\/MyFunctionApp.azurewebsites.net\/api\/GraphQLApi` in your browser. You should see the GraphQL Playground interface.<\/p>\n
In the left-hand pane, enter the following query:<\/p>\n
query {\n hello\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\nThen click the \u201cPlay\u201d button to execute the query. You should see the response:<\/p>\n
{\n \"data\": {\n \"hello\": \"Hello, world!\"\n }\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\nCongratulations! You have successfully built and deployed a serverless GraphQL API with Azure Functions and Apollo.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
In this tutorial, we have seen how to build a serverless GraphQL API with Azure Functions and Apollo. By using a serverless architecture, we can easily scale our API to handle any load, while only paying for the resources we consume. Apollo provides a powerful and flexible GraphQL framework that allows us to easily define our schema and resolvers, while Azure Functions provides a cost-effective and scalable execution environment.<\/p>\n
Whether you are building a new application or migrating an existing one, serverless architectures and GraphQL are powerful tools that can help you to build better, faster, and more efficient APIs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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