webhook

Intermediate 💻 Tech / IT

Definition

A way for an application to send real-time data to other applications via HTTP callbacks. It's the polite way for services to say 'hey, something happened' instead of you constantly asking 'did something happen yet?'

Example Usage

Set up a webhook so our app gets notified immediately when a payment completes, instead of polling the API every five seconds.

Origin

Coined by Jeff Lindsay in 2007 as a 'hook' that works over the web, formed by analogy to programming hooks

Fun Fact

Webhooks are essentially the internet's way of implementing the observer pattern, turning the entire web into one giant event-driven system held together by JSON and hope.

Source: Web API design and integration patterns

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