Designing an API involves more than just functionality; it also requires choosing the right architecture to meet your needs. Here are six API architectural styles every developer should be familiar with:

🖱 1 — REST

The most popular architecture for web services.
Uses HTTP requests for communication.
Stateless, ensuring scalability and flexibility.

🖱 2 — GraphQL

A query language for your API.
Allows clients to request exactly what they need, nothing more, nothing less.
Ideal for optimizing network requests.

🖱 3 — SOAP (Deprecated)

A protocol for exchanging structured information in web services.
Known for its strict standards and built-in error handling.
Often used in enterprise-level applications.

🖱 4 — gRPC

A high-performance, open-source environment.
Uses HTTP/2 for transport and Protocol Buffers for interface description.
Well-suited for microservices and real-time communication.

🖱 5 — WebSockets

Provides bidirectional communication between client and server.
Perfect for real-time applications like chat apps and live updates.
Enables continuous data exchange with less overhead compared to HTTP.

🖱 6 — MQTT

A lightweight messaging protocol for small sensors and mobile devices.
Designed for minimal bandwidth and battery usage.
Commonly used in IoT (Internet of Things) applications.
Understanding these architectures will help you design APIs that are both efficient and tailored to your specific use case.

Roman Burdiuzha
Cloud Architect | Co-Founder & CTO at Gart Solutions | Specializing in DevOps & Cloud Solutions