What is the API gateway pattern?

To understand the API gateway pattern and why we need it, we need to review the fundamentals of the service-oriented architecture and how we architect such solutions.

The service-oriented architecture includes three main layers to an application:

• Client: Also referred to as the fronted. This client app is what the user sees and is designed to consume its data from an API. Its functionality is generally limited to functions that the API makes available, and a frontend developer can leverage several techniques to expose functionality to the end user.
• Server: Also referred to as the backend. This section of the architecture houses the API and the business logic. The client app is only as intelligent as the backend. The backend can be made up of one or more services, as would be the case with microservices.
• Database: The database is the anchor of this entire application since it stores all the data being used by the API backend and is...