graphql-go/graphql

Query does not return specified field ordering

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#127 opened on May 10, 2016

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bughelp wanted

Description

This is currently a known limitation, a non-critical bug. It does not affect the correctness of the response returned, but affects readability and is non-compliant to current spec. Will be addressed some time, but low priority for now, I guess. PR welcomed of course 😄

According to specs (as of April 2016),

Field Ordering When querying an Object, the resulting mapping of fields are conceptually ordered in the same order in which they were encountered during query execution, excluding fragments for which the type does not apply and fields or fragments that are skipped via @skip or @include directives. This ordering is correctly produced when using the CollectFields() algorithm.

Response formats which support ordered maps (such as JSON) must maintain this ordering. Response formats which do not support ordered maps may disregard this ordering. https://facebook.github.io/graphql/#sec-Objects

For eg:

{
  foo
  ...Frag
  qux
}

fragment Frag on Query {
  bar
  bad

}

Should produce the ordered result:

{
  "foo": 1,
  "bar": 2,
  "baz": 3,
  "qux": 4
}

Current implementation does not fulfil this requirement. The return JSON response order is at the mercy of default encoding/json marshaller implementation and how maps are handled in Go (non-deterministic ordering).

PR welcomed! Cheers

Contributor guide

Tech stack
gographql
Domain
apibackend
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Go programmingGraphQL specGo JSON marshaling
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60
Research direction
Look at the implementation of CollectFields() in the graphql go/graphql codebase, likely in a file like 'query.go' or 'executor.go'. The current response uses default encoding/json which does not preserve field order. Consider using an ordered map or a custom marshaler that outputs fields in the order they appear in the query. The issue provides a clear example and spec reference. No linked PRs or assignees, so this is open for contribution. Check if there are any existing attempts in the repository's history.