What are Protocol Buffers?

Protocol Buffers (protobuf) are a compact, strongly-typed data format used by gRPC to serialize messages efficiently.

When should I use gRPC instead of REST?

Use gRPC for high-performance internal microservice communication and streaming; REST is usually better for public, browser-facing APIs.

Advanced🖼️ 20 slides⏱ 4 minBackend & APIs

⚡ gRPC Explained

gRPC is a high-performance framework for service-to-service communication using Protocol Buffers. This visual guide explains RPC, protobuf, streaming, and why microservices use gRPC for fast, typed, efficient internal APIs.

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What Is gRPC?

gRPC is a fast framework for service-to-service communication.

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What Is RPC?

Remote Procedure Call lets you call a function on another service.

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Protocol Buffers

Protobuf is a compact, typed data format gRPC uses.

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Defining a Service

You declare methods and messages in a .proto file.

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Code Generation

gRPC generates client and server code from .proto.

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Why gRPC Is Fast

Binary protobuf over HTTP/2 beats text JSON.

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HTTP/2 Benefits

Multiplexing and streaming improve efficiency.

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Unary Calls

One request, one response — like normal functions.

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Server Streaming

Server sends a stream of responses.

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Client Streaming

Client sends a stream of requests.

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Bidirectional Streaming

Both sides stream simultaneously.

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Strong Typing

Contracts prevent mismatched data.

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gRPC vs REST

gRPC is faster and typed; REST is simpler and browser-friendly.

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Microservices Fit

Great for fast internal service communication.

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Browser Limits

gRPC needs gRPC-Web for browsers.

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Error Handling

gRPC uses status codes for errors.

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Deadlines and Cancellation

Calls can time out and be cancelled.

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When to Use gRPC

High-performance internal APIs and streaming.

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When Not To

Public, browser-facing APIs often prefer REST.

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Getting Started

Define a .proto, generate code, build services.

Frequently Asked Questions

gRPC is a high-performance framework for service-to-service communication that uses Protocol Buffers and HTTP/2 for fast, typed remote procedure calls.