Why is it called the Graph API?

Question

Many developers are familiar with the Graph API, the main way data is retrieved from or posted to Facebook.

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/overview

I was just looking into it and I really can't figure it out. Why is it called the Graph API? Why not the Friends API? Or the FB API?

Answer 1

At Facebook, we talk about the "Social Graph" at lot, which is the representation of people, business, groups and all their relationships. Hence, Graph API.

Answer 2

Yes, it's about the social graph - but even the social graph got its name somehow. In mathematics, a graph is a "function", and can be replaced by a function (and rule). Obviously, a graph can be visual, but it's fundamentally data. In set theory, a set or class can be populated by a graph. Using the Graph API, you make API calls to return sets of JSON data.