So much choice, when building a new API. Which architectural style should we choose for our cool new API? Are there any best practices regarding the architectural style for APIs?
RPC is an abbreviation for “Remote Procedure Call”. It is an API style for distributed systems. It has been around since the 1980s. Today the most widely used RPC styles are JSON-RPC and XML-RPC. Even SOAP can be considered to follow an RPC architectural style.
Any API needs to fulfill its responsibilities, such as gathering, structuring, delivering and securing data. But this is not enough to make the API really desirable for API consumers. What are the desirable properties of APIs?
SOAP follows the RPC API style and exposes procedures as central concepts. It is standardized by the W3C and is the most widely used protocol for web services.
SOAP style APIs and architectures are in widespread use, however, typically only for company-internal use or for…
Falcor is an API style that is similar to GraphQL. It introduces a virtual layer that can be used to map frontend requests to backend services. It is maintained by Netflix.
