# rpcx — High-Performance Go RPC Framework for Microservices

> rpcx is a Go RPC framework that supports multiple codecs, service discovery, and fault tolerance for building distributed microservice systems.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# rpcx — High-Performance Go RPC Framework for Microservices

## Quick Use
```bash
go get github.com/smallnest/rpcx/...
```
Server:
```go
type Arith struct{}
func (t *Arith) Mul(ctx context.Context, args *Args, reply *Reply) error {
    reply.C = args.A * args.B
    return nil
}
s := server.NewServer()
s.RegisterName("Arith", new(Arith), "")
s.Serve("tcp", ":8972")
```

## Introduction
rpcx is a Go RPC framework inspired by Dubbo and Motan, designed for building distributed microservices. It provides service discovery, load balancing, fault tolerance, and multiple codec support while maintaining a simple API similar to the standard net/rpc package.

## What rpcx Does
- Provides high-performance RPC communication over TCP, HTTP, QUIC, and KCP
- Supports multiple serialization codecs including JSON, Protobuf, MsgPack, and Thrift
- Integrates with service registries like etcd, Consul, ZooKeeper, and mDNS
- Offers client-side load balancing with round-robin, weighted, hash, and geographic strategies
- Includes circuit breaker, rate limiting, and retry mechanisms for fault tolerance

## Architecture Overview
rpcx follows a provider-consumer model. Servers register services with a discovery backend and listen for connections. Clients look up service addresses from the registry and send requests using a pluggable transport and codec. Middleware plugins intercept calls for logging, tracing, authentication, and metrics. The protocol uses a compact binary header for minimal overhead.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Add to your Go module: `go get github.com/smallnest/rpcx`
- Register services on the server with `server.RegisterName`
- Configure service discovery by passing a registry plugin (etcd, Consul, etc.)
- Set client-side options for timeout, retry count, and load balancing strategy
- Enable TLS by providing certificate files in the server and client configuration

## Key Features
- Sub-millisecond latency in benchmarks with connection pooling and multiplexing
- Bidirectional communication allowing servers to push notifications to clients
- Group and version-based service routing for canary deployments
- OpenTelemetry integration for distributed tracing and metrics
- Gateway mode that exposes RPC services as HTTP/JSON endpoints

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **gRPC-Go** — HTTP/2 and Protobuf only, broader language support, no built-in discovery
- **Go kit** — toolkit approach requiring more boilerplate, more flexibility in transport
- **Kratos** — Bilibili's framework, more opinionated, tighter integration with Kubernetes
- **Kitex** — ByteDance's RPC framework, optimized for Thrift, strong internal ecosystem

## FAQ
**Q: How does rpcx compare to gRPC in performance?**
A: In benchmarks, rpcx matches or exceeds gRPC throughput for Go-to-Go communication due to its lighter protocol and connection multiplexing.

**Q: Can I use Protobuf with rpcx?**
A: Yes. Set the codec to Protobuf on both client and server. rpcx supports multiple codecs simultaneously.

**Q: Does rpcx support streaming?**
A: rpcx supports bidirectional communication. For full streaming semantics similar to gRPC streams, use the XClient broadcast or fork patterns.

**Q: What service registries are supported?**
A: Built-in plugins for etcd, Consul, ZooKeeper, Nacos, and mDNS. Custom registries can be added by implementing the registry interface.

## Sources
- https://github.com/smallnest/rpcx
- https://rpcx.io/

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-1a3aad40
Author: Script Depot