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World Congress 2023 • Sep 27, 2023

Designing gRPC APIs - The things they don't tell you

Bastian Eicher

Did you know gRPC's language-agnostic promise often breaks down at the implementation layer? Uncover the hidden architectural truths behind evergreen versioning, nullability, and robust error handling.

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#1 about 2 min

Motivation for using gRPC APIs over RESTful JSON

Performance and robust code generation make API-first design approaches preferable to traditional JSON payloads.

#2 about 1 min

Blending resource-oriented and RPC philosophies in API design

Applying resource-oriented CRUD concepts within remote procedure call architectures offers functional symmetry and predictable implementation.

#3 about 3 min

Structuring git repositories to share remote procedure contracts

Choosing the right dedicated or monorepo structure dictates how service boundaries securely share client libraries.

#4 about 3 min

Resolving cyclic dependencies within identity management protocol buffers

Organizing cross-cutting references strictly on primary domain entities circumvents cyclic import errors during compilation.

#5 about 3 min

Enforcing API consistency using the Buf protobuf linter

Evaluating warning rules around separated request objects guarantees long-term evolvability across diverse client constraints.

#6 about 3 min

Understanding breaking changes within the binary wire format

Keeping message integer references unchanged enables structural backward compatibility over binary encoded TCP connections.

#7 about 5 min

Leveraging fallback behaviors to avoid complex API versioning

Safely conditionally executing newer remote methods inside try-catch patterns handles mixed upgrade environments without duplicate definitions.

#8 about 3 min

Handling optional fields and language-specific nullability discrepancies

Relying on explicit wrapper types normalizes the erratic missing-value semantics found between C# and Python generators.

#9 about 4 min

Structuring exceptions using the gRPC rich error model

Attaching detailed machine-readable precondition records directly into unhandled exceptions bypasses the rigidity of standard status codes.

#10 about 4 min

Implementing low-level authentication headers for service-to-service communication

Injecting preshared keys directly into HTTP header payloads acts as a lightweight alternative to mutual TLS integrations.

#11 about 3 min

Strongly typed nested models and generated code quality

Exploring how granularly defining internal typed properties improves maintainability despite lack of native web proxy support.

Matching moments

57 sec

Choosing the right API protocol today

Simon Auer Simon Auer · WWC 2025

1:11 min

Evaluating architectural trade-offs between REST and gRPC

Sakshi Nasha Sakshi Nasha · Europe 2026 Virtual

2:23 min

Architectural mapping of resources across different API protocols

Alexis Yushin Alexis Yushin · WWC 2024

4:56 min

Establishing internal service communication with gRPC

Florian Bader Florian Bader · WWC Europe 2026

2:41 min

High performance communication protocols using gRPC

Simon Auer Simon Auer · WWC 2025

1:01 min

Limitations and browser support challenges in gRPC

Max Hausner Max Hausner +1 · WWC 2025

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