gRPC: We are not RESTing Anymore

Sat, 02 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

gRPC is a framework which is being used to build scalable and fast APIs. The framework from which it derives most of its positives is from the protocol it uses - HTTP/2. Apart from HTTP/2, it uses protocol buffer (protobuf) for the communication.

gRPC can be useful in circumstances like -

large-scale microservices connections
real-time communication
Low power & low bandwidth systems
Multi-language environments

Why Should We Care? Let’s talk Benefits#

The use of HTTP/2 over the TLS end-to-end encryption connection in gRPC ensures API security.
gRPC provides built-in support for commodity features, such as metadata exchange, encryption, authentication, deadline/timeouts and cancellations, interceptors, load balancing, service discovery, and so much more.
The prime feature of gRPC methodology is the native code generation for client/server applications.
gRPC tools and libraries are designed to work with multiple platforms and programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, Go, Dart, Objective-C, C#, and more.
Parsing with Protobuf requires fewer CPU resources since data is converted into a binary format, and encoded messages are lighter in size. So, messages are exchanged faster, even in machines with a slower CPU, such as mobile devices.
Request and Response Multiplexing - Multiple requests/response in one single connection.

Underlying Concepts#

Protocol Buffers#

aka protobuf . It’s Google’s serialization/deserialization protocol that enables easy definition of services and auto-generation of client libraries. It is an IDL (Interface Definition Language).

Http2 on krash.dev

gRPC: We are not RESTing Anymore

Why Should We Care? Let’s talk Benefits#

Underlying Concepts#

Protocol Buffers#