API Gateway
ExplainedConcept
A single entry point for all API calls in a microservices architecture, handling routing, auth and rate limiting.
API Gateway, explained
Written by EduVerseWhat it is
An API gateway is a server that sits in front of your backend services and receives every request from the outside world first. It decides which service should handle each request and forwards it there, so clients talk to one address instead of to a whole collection of separate services.
Why teams use it
Without a gateway, every service has to check tokens, slow down abusive traffic and log requests on its own, and clients need to know where each service lives. A gateway does those shared jobs in one place. The cost is an extra network hop and a component that must stay up, because everything passes through it.
An example from work
The frontend calls https://api.example.com/orders/42, which is the gateway’s address, not the orders service itself. In the gateway configuration you find routes that send every path starting with /orders to the orders service and every path starting with /users to the user service. When your new endpoint returns a 404 from the gateway, a missing route is the first thing to check.
Our own explanation, not a quote from the book.
Where it fits
Traffic management and security for microservices
Coverage in the book
Explained and compared with alternatives, so you know where and why it’s used.
