SRPC

Simple Remote Procedure Call (SRPC) is a lightweight interprocess communication protocol designed to enable services to invoke functions on remote hosts with minimal overhead. Developed in the late 1990s as an alternative to heavier frameworks such as SOAP and early versions of XML‑RPC, SRPC uses a binary, prefixed format that encodes function names, argument types, and values in a compact binary stream. The protocol typically runs over TCP or UDP, with optional TLS encryption for secure deployments.

SRPC operates with a client‑server model. The client sends a request packet containing the name of the procedure to be executed and its serialized arguments. The server receives the packet, deserializes the arguments, dispatches the requested procedure, then returns a response packet containing either the result or an error code. Because SRPC messages are framed and type‑checked, it supports strict argument validation and is resilient to malformed requests.

Key features of SRPC include minimal marshaling overhead, support for basic data types (integers, floats, strings, byte arrays), optional support for collections via length‑prefixed lists, and a simple hook for authentication and authorization. Its design encourages stateless communication, making it suitable for horizontal scaling and containerized microservice architectures.

Compared to other RPC frameworks, SRPC offers lower latency due to its binary format but lacks built‑in support for complex data structures or automatic code generation that services like gRPC provide. Many open‑source projects have adopted SRPC for internal tooling, especially in environments where bandwidth constraints or legacy system integration require a streamlined protocol.

SRPC remains a niche but valuable option for developers looking for a trade‑off between protocol simplicity and performance in distributed systems.