Google Professional Cloud Developer Question 48
Single answerGoogle Cloud PlatformYou are designing a new microservices-based application that requires low-latency communication between services. The application must support streaming data and handle high throughput. Additionally, you need to ensure compatibility with clients implemented in multiple languages. Which communication protocol should you choose and why?
- A
Use HTTP REST because it is widely supported and easy to debug.
- B
Use gRPC because it supports streaming, low-latency communication, and multiple programming languages.
- C
Use HTTP REST because it uses JSON, which is lightweight and human-readable.
- D
Use gRPC because it is stateless and easier to scale horizontally.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
gRPC is the most suitable protocol for this scenario because it is designed for low-latency and high-throughput communication. It supports features like streaming (both client-side and bidirectional), which are critical for handling real-time or high-volume data flows. Additionally, gRPC uses Protocol Buffers for serialization, making it more efficient than JSON over HTTP REST. Its compatibility with multiple programming languages also fulfills the requirement for multi-language client support. While HTTP REST is widely supported and easier to debug, it lacks the advanced performance and streaming capabilities required in this scenario.
- A. Incorrect.
HTTP REST is widely supported and easy to debug, but it does not natively support features like bidirectional streaming or the low-latency communication needed for this scenario.
- B. Correct.
gRPC is the correct choice for this scenario because it is designed for low-latency, high-throughput communication and supports features like streaming. Additionally, gRPC uses Protocol Buffers, which are language-neutral, making it suitable for multi-language client compatibility.
- C. Incorrect.
While JSON is lightweight and human-readable, it is not as efficient as Protocol Buffers (used by gRPC) in terms of serialization and deserialization speed or data size. HTTP REST with JSON would not meet the low-latency and high-throughput requirements.
- D. Incorrect.
gRPC does support horizontal scalability, but describing it as stateless is not entirely accurate. The choice of gRPC in this scenario is due to its support for low-latency, streaming, and multi-language compatibility, not because of any specific scaling benefits.