Is there a difference between API gateway pattern and BFF?

microservices netflix-zuul api-gateway
codingsplash picture codingsplash · Sep 6, 2017 · Viewed 7.3k times · Source

My understanding is that API gateway pattern is like a proxy to all microservices. So client calls the API gateway which takes care of further routing. BFF is a specific case of API gateway pattern where we have a routing mechanism for each type of client. Am I right?

Answer

Set picture Set · Sep 6, 2017

Yes, it is a specific case of API Gateway. For me this comment was helpful for understanding. It says you may think about the following cases when we are talking about API Gateway - Client relationships:

  • A single API gateway providing a single API for all clients.
  • A single API gateway provides an API for each kind of client.
  • A per-client API gateway providing each client with an API. This is the BFF pattern.

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