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HATEOAS with gRPC: Is It Possible? (And Should You Do It?)
- HATEOAS is a REST constraint guiding clients through application states using hypermedia links, but what happens when moving to gRPC?
- gRPC, a high-performance RPC framework, lacks native support for HATEOAS principles and focuses on method calls on a service.
- Implementing HATEOAS in gRPC is technically possible but not commonly recommended due to mismatched concepts and complexities.
- Two options include embedding link metadata in responses or using action envelopes, but both have drawbacks for gRPC.
- The nature of HATEOAS (REST) being hypermedia-driven conflicts with gRPC's method-driven approach, leading to tight coupling.
- While there are edge cases where HATEOAS-like features in gRPC might make sense, in most cases, it's not advised to mix the two.
- For dynamic workflows or client-orchestrated logic, consider defining workflows explicitly or using an orchestration engine over HATEOAS in gRPC.
- gRPC is optimized for performance and strong contracts, while HATEOAS focuses on runtime navigation, making them challenging to combine effectively.
- Choose REST + HATEOAS for human-friendly APIs or gRPC for service-to-service communication, avoiding mixing unless necessary and well-understood.
- Understanding the mismatch between HATEOAS principles and gRPC strengths is crucial for deciding the appropriate tool for your use case.
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