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Designing a scalable Webhook using AWS Serverless Stack
We have often used Webhook a lot during our interactions with the systems unknowingly but do we know what exactly a Webhook is and how it is better than other system design patterns like short/long polling?
A Webhook is an HTTP/S call that gets triggered between the two systems where the source system triggers a specific event that leads to the notification of the targeted application. A very common example is when you swipe your credit card at the merchant for a Point of Sale (POS) transaction, you receive a notification in your phone about the transaction that you made.
Just think of the same scenario of using a Point of Sale (POS) transaction using the concept of a short/long polling pattern where the mobile application or client (in this above example) has to constantly poll the status of your bank account frequently to see any latest updates for any transaction. This leads to the wastage of computing power costing huge money to the company.
Benefits of using Webhooks
- Realtime communication
- Loose-coupled architecture
