An API Gateway is a centralized intermediary or reverse proxy that provides a single point of entry and control for managing, securing, and exposing multiple APIs, services, or microservices to client applications or external consumers. API gateways handle API requests and responses, enforce access controls, rate limiting, authentication, authorization, and traffic management policies, transform data formats, and orchestrate API calls across backend services, while shielding clients from the complexities of backend systems. API gateways play a crucial role in API lifecycle management, versioning, monitoring, and analytics, facilitating seamless integration and interaction between clients and distributed systems.
