RPC and GraphQL APIs

While REST-based APIs are widely used in many scenarios today, it is not the only style of web API. For some scenarios, RPC-based APIs or GraphQL APIs may be better suited. It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each style of API so that you can choose the right styles for your scenarios.

What is an RPC-based API?

RPC has existed for many years. It is the earliest, simplest form of web interaction. It is like a local call in some other languages, but it executes over a network. The client is given a list of available methods. Each method takes pre-defined, typed, and ordered parameters, returning a structured response result. So, the client can run on a different machine or in a different process but still work with the server, such as in the same application.

In this way, the client is tightly coupled to the server. If the server changes these methods or any parameters, the client will be affected. Developers must update the...