Authentication and Authorization
- They can enforce authentication, ensuring that only authorized users or applications can access the services behind the gateway.
- This is typically done using mechanisms like API keys, OAuth tokens, or JWTs. Furthermore, they handle authorization by checking if the authenticated user or application has the necessary permissions to access specific resources.
Is API Gateway a Middleware?
Yes, an API Gateway is often considered a type of middleware. Middleware is software that sits between different applications or components in a system and provides services such as communication, data transformation, and security.
- An API Gateway acts as an intermediary between clients and backend services, routing requests, transforming data formats, and handling security and authentication.
- It abstracts the complexity of the underlying services and provides a unified interface for clients to interact with the system.
- In this sense, an API Gateway can be seen as a specialized form of middleware that specifically focuses on managing APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and the interactions between clients and services.