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Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is a protocol that allows functions to be executed on a remote machine. It is particularly useful in distributed systems as it simplifies the interaction between clients and servers.
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A remote procedure call (RPC) lets a process invoke a function on another machine as if it were local.
RPC was described in 1984 by Andrew D. Birrell and Bruce Jay Nelson at Xerox PARC. The line evolved from stubs and marshalling to standardized IDLs and modern frameworks such as gRPC; network failure and latency remain visible.
An RPC call is like postal delivery: the client packs arguments into a protocol, sends them to the server, which executes the procedure and returns a result or error. Local syntax hides transport but cannot remove its uncertainty.
Client and server stubs translate calls and results into transferable messages.
An interface or IDL defines operations, data types, and compatibility rules.
Timeouts, retries, partial failures, and version changes belong to the call model.
RPC simplifies distributed service interactions but requires deliberate error and timeout design. Choose it against other interfaces based on coupling, streaming, observability, contracts, and topology.
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