How does gRPC differ from REST?
Answer
Key differences: (1) Protocol — REST typically uses HTTP/1.1; gRPC uses HTTP/2 with multiplexing and binary framing; (2) Data format — REST commonly uses JSON (text, human-readable); gRPC uses Protobuf (binary, compact, faster); (3) Contract — REST is loosely defined (OpenAPI is optional); gRPC requires a .proto file contract (mandatory, strongly typed); (4) Code generation — gRPC auto-generates client and server stubs; REST requires manual client implementation or tools like OpenAPI Generator; (5) Streaming — gRPC natively supports server/client/bidirectional streaming; REST only supports request-response; (6) Browser support — REST works natively in browsers; gRPC requires gRPC-Web (a browser-compatible variant); (7) Performance — gRPC is typically 7–10x faster than REST for equivalent operations.