GraphQL has gotten its own foundation, under the auspices of the Linux Foundation, eight years after it was first developed at Facebook.

The new foundation describes GraphQL as “a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data”.

Facebook first developed the spec as it developed its mobile apps, and found it needed an API data version of News Feed. The aim was to simplify cross-platform and mobile development “with availability in multiple programming languages, allowing developers to create seamless user experiences for their customers.” Facebook open sourced the project in 2015.

As the foundation’s announcement puts it, GraphQL APIs, unlike REST-based APIs, don’t rely on HTTP and existing protocols, and “allow developers to query the exact data they need from a diverse set of cloud data sources, with less code, greater performance and security, and a faster development cycle.”

It claims this helps it achieve “consistency and feature parity across multiple platforms such as web, iOS, Android, and embedded and IoT applications.”

It’s certainly been enough to gain some big name support, and the announcement flagged up backers including Airbnb, Atlassian, Audi, CNBC, GitHub, Major League Soccer, Netflix, Shopify, The New York Times, Twitter, Pinterest and Yelp.

The new foundation aims to grow and sustain a neutral GraphQL ecosystem and enable widespread adoption and help accelerate development of GraphQL and the surrounding ecosystem.

That means, amongst other things, “shared investment in vendor-neutral events, documentation, tools, and support,” said Lee Byron, co-creator of GraphQL.

But first, it needs to finalise the lineup of founder members, then put a governance structure in place.

You can get more info at the website, here. There are also the usual community channels, including Twitter, StackOverflow, and inevitably, a Facebook group.