Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
What is Remote Procedure Call (RPC)?¶
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is a protocol that allows a program to execute code on a different address space (often on another machine) as if it were a local procedure call. Essentially, it enables communication between different parts of a system.
RPC is a powerful technique for constructing distributed, client-server-based applications, and it is widely used in microservices architecture.
In microservices architecture, RPC is used to communicate between services. It is a synchronous communication protocol where the client sends a request to the server and waits for the response. The client and server can be written in different programming languages and can run on different machines.
Difference between RPC and RESTful API¶
RESTful API can be considered a form of RPC, but there are some key differences between the two:
| Feature | RESTful API | RPC |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural Style | Resource-oriented | Procedure-oriented |
| Communication Model | Stateless communication | Can be synchronous or asynchronous |
| Interaction | Uses standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, etc.) | Invokes specific functions/procedures |
| Data Format | Typically uses JSON or XML | Can use various formats (JSON, XML, binary) |
| URI Structure | Operates on resources identified by URIs | Typically involves method names or endpoints |
| Protocol | Primarily HTTP | Can use multiple protocols (e.g., HTTP, TCP) |
| Caching | Supports caching mechanisms | Less emphasis on caching |
| Use Cases | Web services, microservices | Remote function execution, service calls |
Frameworks and Libraries for RPC¶
- gRPC: A high-performance, open-source RPC framework developed by Google. It uses Protocol Buffers as the interface definition language and HTTP/2 as the transport protocol.