HEADLESS – Story about REST and GraphQL

Source: Dev.to

Challenges (2013–2016)

• Users began expecting real mobile apps, not just a responsive website.
• JavaScript frameworks (React, Angular, Vue) exploded and suddenly the frontend became a real, complex application on its own.
• Companies wanted to publish the same content and functionality on web, iOS, Android, smart TVs, kiosks, chatbots, and watches — all at the same time.

Why the monolithic model collapsed

• Changing one line of HTML required a full backend deployment.
• Mobile teams had to wait for backend developers to expose new API endpoints.
• Reusing the same server‑rendered templates on a native app or a voice device was basically impossible.
• Development speed slowed to a crawl because two completely different disciplines (server‑side rendering vs modern frontend) were chained together.

So the industry did the obvious thing: cut the rope. Separate the “content and business logic” (backend) from the “experience and presentation” (frontend). Let the backend become a pure data service (headless) and give every channel its own specialized frontend.

Further reading

HEADLESS – Story about REST and GraphQL