Key details at a glance
REST wins for public APIs where simplicity matters most; GraphQL wins for complex front-ends and mobile apps needing flexible queries; gRPC wins for lowlatency service-to-service communication. Every production API needs a gateway layer handling authentication (JWT), rate limiting, versioning, request logging, and OpenAPI documentation. Target response time under 100ms and 99.9% uptime SLA for production APIs serving real users. A poorly designed API is never private — once published, it becomes a public commitment you'll maintain for years, so design it accordingly.
