Java J2ee Planet

REST, RPC - architecture patterns, AMQP - wire-level and HTTP - application protocol which run on top of TCP/IP AMQP is a specific protocol when HTTP - general-purpose protocol, thus, HTTP has damn high overhead comparing to AMQP AMQP nature is asynchronous where HTTP nature is synchronous Both REST and RPC use data serialization, which format is up to you and it depends of infrastructure. If you are using python everywhere I think you can use python native serialization -   pickle   which should be faster than JSON or any other formats. Both HTTP+REST and AMQP+RPC can run in heterogeneous and/or distributed environment So if you are choosing what to use:  HTTP+REST or AMQP+RPC, the answer is really subject of infrastructure complexity and resource usage. Without any specific requirements both solution will work fine, but i would rather make some abstraction to be able switch between them transparently.

Synchronous (One thread):   1 thread -> |<---A---->||<----B---------->||<------C----->| Synchronous (multi-threaded):   thread A -> |<---A---->| \ thread B ------------> ->|<----B---------->| \ thread C ----------------------------------> ->|<------C----->|

  Asynchronous Communication Advantages: Requests need not be targeted to specific server. Service need not be available when request is made. No blocking, so resources could be freed.  Could use connectionless protocol Disadvantages: Response times are unpredictable. Error handling usually more complex.  Usually requires connection-oriented protocol.  Harder to design apps Synchronous Communication Advantages: Easy to program Outcome is known immediately  Error recovery easier (usually)  Better real-time response (usually) Disadvantages: Service must be up and ready. Requestor blocks, held resources are “tied up”.  Usually requires connection-oriented protocol