What is the difference between a reverse proxy and a Node.js API gateway in a microservices architecture?

Question

Node.js Developer — Hard

What is the difference between a reverse proxy and a Node.js API gateway in a microservices architecture?

Accepted Answer

In a microservices architecture, a reverse proxy routes traffic to backend services based on URL patterns and handles load balancing and SSL. On the other hand, a Node.js API gateway is a specialized reverse proxy that goes beyond routing to handle authentication, rate limiting, request aggregation, and protocol translation.