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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Frameworks
  4. Serialization Frameworks
  5. Apache Thrift vs gRPC

Apache Thrift vs gRPC

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Apache Thrift
Apache Thrift
Stacks193
Followers245
Votes0
GitHub Stars10.8K
Forks4.1K
gRPC
gRPC
Stacks2.4K
Followers1.4K
Votes64
GitHub Stars43.9K
Forks11.0K

Apache Thrift vs gRPC: What are the differences?

Apache Thrift and gRPC are two popular frameworks used for implementing and managing remote procedure calls (RPC) in distributed systems. While both frameworks offer similar functionalities, there are some key differences between them.

  1. Serialization formats: Apache Thrift supports multiple serialization formats including binary, compact, and JSON, allowing developers to choose the most suitable format for their use case. On the other hand, gRPC uses Protocol Buffers, a language-agnostic binary serialization format, which provides a smaller message size and faster processing.

  2. Transport protocols: Apache Thrift supports a wide range of transport protocols such as TCP, HTTP, and Apache Kafka. It provides flexibility in choosing the appropriate transport protocol based on the system requirements. In contrast, gRPC primarily uses HTTP/2 as the default transport protocol, which offers advantages like multiplexing and server push.

  3. Language support: Apache Thrift supports a broader range of programming languages including Java, C++, Python, Ruby, and more. This makes it more versatile for projects that require cross-language compatibility. Meanwhile, gRPC primarily focuses on supporting languages like C++, Java, Python, Go, and C#.

  4. Performance: gRPC is known for its high performance due to its use of Protocol Buffers and HTTP/2. The binary serialization format and features like multiplexing and server push contribute to faster data transfer and reduced latency. Apache Thrift, while also providing good performance, may have slightly higher overhead due to its support for multiple serialization formats.

  5. Community and ecosystem: gRPC is backed by Google and has a strong community support. It benefits from being part of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and has integrations with various cloud platforms and frameworks. Apache Thrift also has an active community, but it may not have as large a user base or integration options compared to gRPC.

  6. Flexibility: Apache Thrift provides more flexibility in terms of message types and service definition. It allows users to define data types and exception handling mechanisms, making it suitable for complex scenarios. gRPC, on the other hand, follows a more opinionated approach with a focus on simplicity and ease of use.

In summary, while both Apache Thrift and gRPC offer similar functionalities for implementing RPC, there are notable differences in terms of serialization formats, transport protocols, language support, performance, community/ecosystem, and flexibility. The choice between the two depends on specific project requirements and priorities.

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Detailed Comparison

Apache Thrift
Apache Thrift
gRPC
gRPC

The Apache Thrift software framework, for scalable cross-language services development, combines a software stack with a code generation engine to build services that work efficiently and seamlessly between C++, Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, Erlang, Perl, Haskell, C#, Cocoa, JavaScript, Node.js, Smalltalk, OCaml and Delphi and other languages.

gRPC is a modern open source high performance RPC framework that can run in any environment. It can efficiently connect services in and across data centers with pluggable support for load balancing, tracing, health checking...

-
Simple service definition;Works across languages and platforms;Start quickly and scale;Works across languages and platforms;Bi-directional streaming and integrated auth
Statistics
GitHub Stars
10.8K
GitHub Stars
43.9K
GitHub Forks
4.1K
GitHub Forks
11.0K
Stacks
193
Stacks
2.4K
Followers
245
Followers
1.4K
Votes
0
Votes
64
Pros & Cons
No community feedback yet
Pros
  • 25
    Higth performance
  • 15
    The future of API
  • 13
    Easy setup
  • 5
    Contract-based
  • 4
    Polyglot
Integrations
No integrations available
.NET
.NET
Swift
Swift
Java
Java
JavaScript
JavaScript
C++
C++
Kotlin
Kotlin

What are some alternatives to Apache Thrift, gRPC?

MessagePack

MessagePack

It is an efficient binary serialization format. It lets you exchange data among multiple languages like JSON. But it's faster and smaller. Small integers are encoded into a single byte, and typical short strings require only one extra byte in addition to the strings themselves.

Protobuf

Protobuf

Protocol buffers are Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data – think XML, but smaller, faster, and simpler.

Avro

Avro

It is a row-oriented remote procedure call and data serialization framework developed within Apache's Hadoop project. It uses JSON for defining data types and protocols, and serializes data in a compact binary format.

REST

REST

An architectural style for developing web services. A distributed system framework that uses Web protocols and technologies.

Serde

Serde

It is a framework for serializing and deserializing Rust data structures efficiently and generically. The ecosystem consists of data structures that know how to serialize and deserialize themselves along with data formats that know how to serialize and deserialize other things. It provides the layer by which these two groups interact with each other, allowing any supported data structure to be serialized and deserialized using any supported data format.

JSON-RPC

JSON-RPC

It is a very simple protocol, defining only a few data types and commands. It allows for notifications (data sent to the server that does not require a response) and for multiple calls to be sent to the server which may be answered out of order.

Apache Dubbo

Apache Dubbo

It is a high-performance, light weight, java based RPC framework. Dubbo offers three key functionalities, which include interface based remote call, fault tolerance & load balancing, and automatic service registration & discovery.

Sonic

Sonic

It is a blazingly fast JSON serializing & deserializing library, accelerated by JIT (just-in-time compiling) and SIMD (single-instruction-multiple-data).

Mercury

Mercury

A modular JSON-RPC library that allows pluggable transport layers, JSON libraries, and effect/async monads. It is used to communicate with embedded devices where the device is acting in the server role.

Tars

Tars

It is an open-source microservice platform. It contains a high-performance RPC framework and a service management platform. Based on Tars, you can develop a reliable microservice system efficiently. It is designed for high reliability, high performance, and efficient service management. By significantly reducing system operation work, developers can focus on business logic and meet fast changes of user requirements.

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