gRPC is a framework for building fast, scalable APIs, especially in distributed systems like microservices, built on HTTP/2 and Protocol Buffers.
It offers efficient communication between services, particularly in Golang.
gRPC brings advantages such as speed, cross-language support, streaming capabilities, strong typing, and scalability.
Setting up gRPC in Go involves initializing the project, installing dependencies, defining services using Protocol Buffers, generating code, and implementing servers and clients.
gRPC's efficiency is highlighted by its use of HTTP/2 and protobuf, resulting in smaller payloads, lower latency, bidirectional streaming, and auto-generated typing.
Duplex streaming in gRPC allows bidirectional communication, making it ideal for real-time applications like chat services.
Protocol Buffers (protobuf) is used by gRPC for data format, offering compact and efficient serialization and deserialization of messages.
gRPC is recommended for internal microservices, real-time apps, multi-language projects, and bandwidth-sensitive devices, while REST is suitable for public APIs and simpler projects.
Useful tools like gRPCurl, Evans, and Protobuf VSCode Extension are available for working with gRPC services.
Overall, gRPC in Go provides an efficient and scalable solution for building services, complementing REST rather than replacing it.