How to Implement gRPC Client and Server in .NET 8

gRPC, born from Google’s innovation, represents a pinnacle in remote procedure call (RPC) frameworks, excelling in performance and language neutrality.

In this article, we’ll explore how to implement gRPC in ASP.NET Core.

We’ll cover the basics, provide a project example, and even share code snippets to help you get started.

About gRPC

gRPC stands as a contemporary, open-source RPC (Remote Procedure Call) framework, celebrated for its high performance and versatility.

Advantages of gRPC:

• High-Speed RPC Framework: Offers advanced performance and agility in communication.
• Contract-First Approach: Leverages Protocol Buffers for API development, enabling language-agnostic implementations.
• Streaming Support: Facilitates seamless streaming communication for clients, servers, and bidirectional scenarios.
• Efficient Serialization: Minimizes network overhead through the binary serialization of Protobuf.

gRPC finds ideal application in:

• Microservices Architectures: Prioritizes efficiency and streamlined communication.
• Polyglot Environments: Enables development across multiple programming languages.
• Real-Time Services: Seamlessly handles streaming requests and responses.

Official Resources:

Implementation

Here’s a link to a project I’ve prepared :

This project presents a practical implementation of gRPC communication, featuring two distinct services:

1. Sample.GRPC.Client.API: This service encapsulates CRUD operations, leveraging a gRPC client to interact with the underlying Sample.GRPC.Server.API.
2. Sample.GRPC.Server.API: Operating as a gRPC server, this service facilitates CRUD operations. For testing purposes, an in-memory database has been utilized.

Proto File

The initial step involves defining a proto file, within which we outline our gRPC service methods, requests, and response models.

Here’s a segment of the proto file found within this project:

syntax = "proto3";

import "google/protobuf/any.proto";
import "google/protobuf/timestamp.proto";

option csharp_namespace = "SampleServiceProto";

package sampleservice;

service SampleServiceApi {
  rpc Gets (Empty) returns (responseEntitiesModel);
  rpc GetSingle (entityRequest) returns (responseEntityModel);
  rpc Create (CreationRequest) returns (operationCompleteModel);
  rpc Update (UpdateRequest) returns (operationCompleteModel);
  rpc Delete (entityRequest) returns (responseModel);
}

message entityModel {
  string id = 1;
  string name = 2;
  string description = 3;
  google.protobuf.Timestamp referenceDate = 4;
  google.protobuf.Timestamp modifiedDate = 5;
}

// Message and service definitions follow...

Key points:

• csharp_namespace: Specifies the namespace you can utilize within your C# code to reference the models defined in the proto file.
• service SampleServiceApi: Defines the service name and the methods it provides.
• entityModel: Provides a sample definition of an entity.

For further details about the syntax:

Server Side Implementation

The server-side implementation demonstrates efficient handling of CRUD operations.

After defining a proto file, it must be imported into our .NET project, with the type of Server specified.

Here’s a sample excerpt from the project reference:

 <Protobuf Include="Protos\sampleservice.proto" GrpcServices="Server" />

Following the import of the proto file, a class is defined that inherits from SampleServiceApi.

Inside this class, the methods defined for the service in the proto file are overridden to provide custom implementation.

public class GrpcSampleService : SampleServiceApi.SampleServiceApiBase
{
  public override async Task<responseEntitiesModel> Gets(Empty request, ServerCallContext context)
  {
      try
      {
          var lst = await dbContext.SampleEntities.ToListAsync();

          var response = new responseEntitiesModel() { Success = true };
          response.Items.AddRange(lst.Adapt<IEnumerable<entityModel>>());

          return response;
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
          logger.LogError(ex, "An error occurred at {Gets}", nameof(Gets));

          var errorRetModel = new responseEntitiesModel() { Success = false };
          errorRetModel.Exceptions.Add(new apiException() { Message = ex.Message, StatusCode = 500 });
          return errorRetModel;
      }
  }


    // Other Method implementations...
}

Client Side Implementation

The client-side implementation provides a seamless interface for interacting with the server.

After defining a proto file, it must be imported into our .NET project, with the type of Client specified.

Here’s a sample excerpt from the project reference:

 <Protobuf Include="GRPCClient\sampleservice.proto" GrpcServices="Client" />

Within the client project, a Service called ServiceClientGrpc is defined to wrap the actual GRPC client.

This allows for encapsulation of all dependencies to gRPC within this service.

private readonly SampleServiceApi.SampleServiceApiClient _client;

// Other code omitted for brevity

public class ServiceClientGrpc : IServiceClientGrpc
{
      public async Task<IEnumerable<SampleEntityGet>> Get()
      {
          var response = await _client.GetsAsync(new Empty(), _metadata);

          if (response.Success)
          {
              return response.Items.Adapt<IEnumerable<SampleEntityGet>>();
          }

          throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Join(',', response.Exceptions.Select(x => x.Message)));
      }

      // Other code omitted for brevity
}

Other Considerations

Within this project, Mapster is employed to automate the mapping of gRPC models to C# classes.

For some classes, custom mappers are defined, as illustrated below:

  TypeAdapterConfig<entityModel, SampleEntityGet>.NewConfig()
  .Map(dest => dest.Id, src => Guid.Parse(src.Id))
  .Map(dest => dest.Name, src => src.Name)
  .Map(dest => dest.Description, src => src.Description)
  .Map(dest => dest.ReferenceDate, src => src.ReferenceDate.ToDateTime())
  .Map(dest => dest.LastTimeModified, src => src.ModifiedDate.ToDateTime()); 


  TypeAdapterConfig<SampleEntityPost, CreationRequest>.NewConfig()
  .Map(dest => dest.Item.Name, src => src.Name)
  .Map(dest => dest.Item.Description, src => src.Description)
  .Map(dest => dest.Item.ReferenceDate, src => Google.Protobuf.WellKnownTypes.Timestamp.FromDateTime(src.ReferenceDate));

At this point, the .Adapt method can be used to convert gRPC models to API models.

response.Items.Adapt<IEnumerable<SampleEntityGet>>();

Microsoft Official Documentation

For further exploration and detailed guidance, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation: