blog post about grpc stacks

Author: carl-mastrangelo

_posts/2018-11-30-grpc-stacks.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: gRPC Language Stacks
+published: false
+permalink: blog/grpc-stacks
+author: Carl Mastrangelo
+author-link: https://carlmastrangelo.com
+company: Google
+company-link: https://www.google.com
+---
+
+Here is a high level overview of the gRPC Stacks.  Each of the **10** default languages supported by gRPC has multiple layers, allowing you to customize what pieces you want in your application.
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+<!--more-->
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+There are three main stacks in gRPC: C-core, Go, and Java.  Most of the languages are thin wrappers on top of the [C-based](https://github.com/grpc/grpc/tree/v1.16.1/src/core) gRPC core library:
+
+<p><img src="https://grpc.io/img/grpc-core-stack.svg" alt="gRPC Core Stack" style="max-width: 800px" /></p>
+
+For example, a Python application calls into the generated Python stubs.  These call pass through interceptors, and into the wrapping library where the call is translated into C calls.  The gRPC C-core will encode the RPC as HTTP/2, optionally encrypt the data with TLS, and then pass write it to the network.
+
+One of the cool things about gRPC is that you can swap these pieces out.  For example, you could use C# instead, and use an In-Process transport.  This would save you from having to go all the way down to the OS network layer.   Another example is trying out the QUIC protocol, which allows you to open new connections quickly.  Being able to run over a variety of transports based on the environment makes gRPC really flexible.
+
+### Go
+
+In [gRPC-Go](https://github.com/grpc/grpc-go), the stack is much simpler, due to not having to support so many configurations.  Here is a high level overview of the Go stack:
+
+<p><img src="https://grpc.io/img/grpc-go-stack.svg" alt="gRPC Go Stack" style="max-width: 800px" /></p>
+
+The structure is a little different here.  Since there is only one language, the flow from the top of the stack to the bottom is more linear.
+
+
+### Java
+
+Here is a high level overview of the [gRPC-Java](https://github.com/grpc/grpc-java) stack:
+
+<p><img src="https://grpc.io/img/grpc-java-stack.svg" alt="gRPC Java Stack" style="max-width: 800px" /></p>
+
+Again, the structure is a little different.  Java supports HTTP/2, QUIC, and In Process like the C-core.  Unlike the C-Core though, applications commonly can bypass the generated stubs and interceptors, and speak directly to the Java Core library.  Each structure is slightly different based on the needs of each language implementation of gRPC.