API Gateway
An API Gateway is a server that acts as an entry point for client requests to backend services, handling tasks like routing, authentication, rate limiting, and request/response transformation. It centralizes API management, providing a unified interface for multiple microservices or APIs, and often includes features for monitoring, logging, and security. This tool simplifies client interactions by abstracting the complexity of underlying services and enforcing consistent policies across APIs.
Developers should use an API Gateway when building microservices architectures, as it decouples clients from services, improves security through centralized authentication (e.g., OAuth, JWT), and enhances performance with caching and load balancing. It's essential for managing high-traffic APIs, enabling versioning, and reducing latency by aggregating requests, making it ideal for scalable applications in cloud environments like AWS or Kubernetes.