On: Why We’re Switching to gRPC

[adrianmonk]

Short summary of web services:

Phase 1: Ad hoc, free-for-all chaos.

Phase 2: SOAP tries to bring order. It fails mainly because the "S" ("Simple") is a lie.

Phase 3: Pendulum swings hard toward simplicity with HTTP plus JSON plus nothing else, thanks.

Phase 4: Things shift possibly more toward the middle (a little structure), but none of the competing systems have become obvious winners.

[crehn → adrianmonk]

Most things in life seem to change like a pendulum learning from previous swings, slowly converging to a healthy middle. Extremes are useful since they give perspective and attractive since they're easy to grasp.