GraphQL Orders Edges and Nodes

[edwinv]

What is the difference between these node and nodes?

Looking through the explorer they have the same fields and when I use them I get the same results, but I may be overlooking something.

query MyQuery {
  orders(first: 1) {
    nodes{}
    edges {
      node{}
    }
  }
}

[ShopifyDevSup · Accepted solution]

Hey @edwinv, 

Our GraphQL APIs currently support both the `nodes` and `edges.node` approaches to accessing data, but are generally used for different contexts and needs. Here is a bit more info to expand on the concepts:
 

• edges.node - When using `edges.node`, the data returned is organized using `edges` and `node`. The `edges` array contains multiple objects, and each object represents an edge, or a connection, between the nodes (which store the actual data of interest). The returned data will generally look like this:
  
  {
   "data": {
     "objectName": {
       "edges": [
         {
           "node": {
             "id": "1",
             "name": "value1"
           }
         },
         {
           "node": {
             "id": "2",
             "name": "value2"
           }
         }
       ]
     }
   }
  }
   
• nodes - When using `nodes`, the data is more streamlined, directly accessing the collection of data objects without additional layers of `edges` and `node`. This makes parsing and handling the result more straightforward. The returned data will generally look like this:
  
  {
   "data": {
     "objectName": {
       "nodes": [
         {
           "id": "1",
           "name": "value1"
         },
         {
           "id": "2",
           "name": "value2"
         }
       ]
     }
   }
  }

How you plan to approach pagination may require some additional investigation into these approaches. Usually, using `nodes` and `pageInfo` would be preferred, but if edge data is necessary, `edges` can be used to return a `cursor` and `node`. I would suggest taking a look into the GraphQL pagination docs here. 

Ultimately, the essential object/connection data will be the same, but which approach used will depend on preference and specific needs. I hope this clarification helps - Cheers!

@awwdam | Shopify Developer Support