#590 explanation for API Gateway

iluwatar · Jul 26, 2020 · 3e1a83e · 3e1a83e
1 parent 0a35cdf
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diff --git a/api-gateway/README.md b/api-gateway/README.md
@@ -5,14 +5,142 @@ folder: api-gateway
 permalink: /patterns/api-gateway/
 categories: Architectural
 tags:
-- Cloud distributed
-- Decoupling
+  - Cloud distributed
+  - Decoupling
+  - Microservices
 ---
 
 ## Intent
 
-Aggregate calls to microservices in a single location: the API Gateway. The user makes a single
-call to the API Gateway, and the API Gateway then calls each relevant microservice.
+Aggregate calls to microservices in a single location: the API Gateway. The user makes a single call to the API Gateway, 
+and the API Gateway then calls each relevant microservice.
+
+## Explanation
+
+With the Microservices pattern, a client may need data from multiple different microservices. If the client called each 
+microservice directly, that could contribute to longer load times, since the client would have to make a network request 
+for each microservice called. Moreover, having the client call each microservice directly ties the client to that 
+microservice - if the internal implementations of the microservices change (for example, if two microservices are 
+combined sometime in the future) or if the location (host and port) of a microservice changes, then every client that 
+makes use of those microservices must be updated.
+
+The intent of the API Gateway pattern is to alleviate some of these issues. In the API Gateway pattern, an additional 
+entity (the API Gateway) is placed between the client and the microservices. The job of the API Gateway is to aggregate 
+the calls to the microservices. Rather than the client calling each microservice individually, the client calls the 
+API Gateway a single time. The API Gateway then calls each of the microservices that the client needs.
+
+Real world example
+
+> We are implementing microservices and API Gateway pattern for an e-commerce site. In this system the API Gateway makes 
+calls to the Image and Price microservices.
+
+In plain words
+
+> For a system implemented using microservices architecture, API Gateway is the single entry point that aggregates the 
+calls to the individual microservices. 
+
+Wikipedia says
+
+> API Gateway is a server that acts as an API front-end, receives API requests, enforces throttling and security 
+policies, passes requests to the back-end service and then passes the response back to the requester. A gateway often 
+includes a transformation engine to orchestrate and modify the requests and responses on the fly. A gateway can also 
+provide functionality such as collecting analytics data and providing caching. The gateway can provide functionality to 
+support authentication, authorization, security, audit and regulatory compliance.
+
+**Programmatic Example**
+
+This implementation shows what the API Gateway pattern could look like for an e-commerce site. The `ApiGateway` makes 
+calls to the Image and Price microservices using the `ImageClientImpl` and `PriceClientImpl` respectively. Customers 
+viewing the site on a desktop device can see both price information and an image of a product, so the `ApiGateway` calls 
+both of the microservices and aggregates the data in the `DesktopProduct` model. However, mobile users only see price 
+information; they do not see a product image. For mobile users, the `ApiGateway` only retrieves price information, which 
+it uses to populate the `MobileProduct`.
+
+Here's the Image microservice implementation.
+
+```java
+public interface ImageClient {
+  String getImagePath();
+}
+
+public class ImageClientImpl implements ImageClient {
+
+  @Override
+  public String getImagePath() {
+    var httpClient = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
+    var httpGet = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
+        .GET()
+        .uri(URI.create("http://localhost:50005/image-path"))
+        .build();
+
+    try {
+      var httpResponse = httpClient.send(httpGet, BodyHandlers.ofString());
+      return httpResponse.body();
+    } catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
+      e.printStackTrace();
+    }
+
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Here's the Price microservice implementation.
+
+```java
+public interface PriceClient {
+  String getPrice();
+}
+
+public class PriceClientImpl implements PriceClient {
+
+  @Override
+  public String getPrice() {
+    var httpClient = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
+    var httpGet = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
+        .GET()
+        .uri(URI.create("http://localhost:50006/price"))
+        .build();
+
+    try {
+      var httpResponse = httpClient.send(httpGet, BodyHandlers.ofString());
+      return httpResponse.body();
+    } catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
+      e.printStackTrace();
+    }
+
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+```
+
+And here we can see how API Gateway maps the requests to the microservices.
+
+```java
+public class ApiGateway {
+
+  @Resource
+  private ImageClient imageClient;
+
+  @Resource
+  private PriceClient priceClient;
+
+  @RequestMapping(path = "/desktop", method = RequestMethod.GET)
+  public DesktopProduct getProductDesktop() {
+    var desktopProduct = new DesktopProduct();
+    desktopProduct.setImagePath(imageClient.getImagePath());
+    desktopProduct.setPrice(priceClient.getPrice());
+    return desktopProduct;
+  }
+
+  @RequestMapping(path = "/mobile", method = RequestMethod.GET)
+  public MobileProduct getProductMobile() {
+    var mobileProduct = new MobileProduct();
+    mobileProduct.setPrice(priceClient.getPrice());
+    return mobileProduct;
+  }
+}
+```
 
 ## Class diagram
 ![alt text](./etc/api-gateway.png "API Gateway")
@@ -21,10 +149,11 @@ call to the API Gateway, and the API Gateway then calls each relevant microservi
 
 Use the API Gateway pattern when
 
-* you're also using the Microservices pattern and need a single point of aggregation for your
-microservice calls
+* You're using microservices architecture and need a single point of aggregation for your microservice calls.
 
 ## Credits
 
 * [microservices.io - API Gateway](http://microservices.io/patterns/apigateway.html)
 * [NGINX - Building Microservices: Using an API Gateway](https://www.nginx.com/blog/building-microservices-using-an-api-gateway/)
+* [Microservices Patterns: With examples in Java](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1617294543/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=javadesignpat-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1617294543&linkId=ac7b6a57f866ac006a309d9086e8cfbd)
+* [Building Microservices: Designing Fine-Grained Systems](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1491950358/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=javadesignpat-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1491950358&linkId=4c95ca9831e05e3f0dadb08841d77bf1)