• callback
• webhook

What is a “hook” in programming?

Let’s first understand the meaning of the term “hook” in programming before learning what a webhook is. A hook is a method used to intercept or change the behavior of a program, operating system, or software components at specific points during execution in programming. Hook intercepts function calls, messages, or events passed between software components. Code that is used to intercept such call messages or events is called a hook. Hooks are a powerful tool for extending, customizing, or enhancing the functionality of software applications.

Hooks are commonly used in various software development contexts, including:

• Interception: Hooks can be used to intercept and modify function calls or system calls. This is often used in low-level programming for purposes like debugging or performance monitoring.
• Event handling: In event-driven programming, hooks are used to register functions or callbacks that are executed when specific events take place. For example, in web development, one can use event hooks to execute code when a user clicks a button or submits a form.
• Customization and extension: Software frameworks and libraries often provide hooks to let programmers customize or extend the functionality of the software. For instance, in WordPress, you can use hooks to add custom functionality to themes and plugins.
• Middleware: In web development, middleware hooks can be used to intercept and process HTTP requests and responses before they reach the main application logic. This is often seen in web frameworks like Django (Python) and Express.js (Node.js).
• Version control: Hooks can be used in version control systems like Git to trigger actions or scripts at specific points in the version control cycle or process. For instance, pre-commit and post-commit hooks can be used to run tests or perform other activities before and after commits are made.

Types of hooks

Hooks come in different forms, and let’s go over all of them.

• Function hooks: These are functions or callbacks that are called at specific points throughout the execution of the code, allowing us to inject custom logic.
• Event hooks: These are used to respond to events, like user interactions or system events.
• Filter hooks: These enable us to modify data or parameters prior to further processing.
• Middleware hooks: These are used in web development to intercept and process HTTP requests and responses.
• System hooks: These are used to intercept system-level events or operations, like file system operations or network requests.

Why are hooks so important?

We may now understand the significance of hooks.

• Customization and extensibility: Hooks allow programmers to change or extend the behavior of a program without explicitly modifying the program itself. This encourages a modular and maintainable codebase, making it easier to add new features or change existing ones without introducing bugs.
• Separation of concerns: Hooks help separate different concerns within a program. By using hooks, you can keep core logic separate from customization or event-handling code. This separation enhances code organization and readability.
• Cross-cutting concerns: Cross-cutting concerns are aspects of an application that affect multiple parts of the codebase. Examples include logging, security, and error handling. Hooks allow us to centralize these concerns and apply them uniformly.
• Event handling: In event-driven programming, hooks provide a way to respond to specific events or user interactions. This is crucial for creating interactive applications, such as graphical user interfaces, web applications, and games.
• Middleware and interception: Hooks are used in middleware to intercept and process requests, responses, or events before they reach the main application logic. This is important for tasks like authentication, logging, and security checks in web applications.
• Version control and automation: In version control systems like Git, hooks are essential for automating tasks such as code linting, testing, and deployment. They ensure that certain actions are performed consistently before or after specific events like commits or merges.
• Debugging and profiling: Hooks can be useful for application profiling and debugging. They provide programmers the ability to inject custom code to monitor performance, track execution paths, or collect data at certain points in the code.
• Code maintainability: By encapsulating customization or event-handling functionality into hooks, code becomes more maintainable. Changes or updates to specific functionalities can be isolated to their respective hooks, reducing the risk of unintentional side effects.
• Resuability: Hooks make it possible to create reusable pieces of code that can be easily integrated into different parts of an application. This promotes code reusability and reduces redundancy (duplication) since the same functionality may be used in several scenarios.

Now let’s get into the main topic of what a webhook is.

What is a webhook?

A webhook is a specific type of hook used for web applications and services. In web development and application integration, a webhook is a method that enables one application to send data with another application in real-time when specific events occur. It enables different software systems to communicate with one another by sending data or alerts instantly when a specific event happens. They are commonly used for integrating web applications and services, as they allow fast and seamless (without any interruptions or delays) data exchange. Webhooks are used by a wide variety of web apps to receive small amounts of data from other apps, but webhooks can also be used to trigger automation workflows. A webhook is also called a web callback or HTTP push API.

A webhook is a user-defined HTTP-based callback function that is usually triggered by some event, such as pushing code to a repository, etc. The application (the receiver) that wants to be notified of these events provides a URL endpoint to the application where the event takes place (the sender). This URL is often referred to as the webhook URL or callback URL. The receiver defines the type of events it wants to be notified about and how it wants to handle those events. When the event takes place in one application or service, based on the callback URL configured, the webhook will make an HTTP request (typically a POST) to the target application (receiver). This POST request contains data related to the event, typically in the form of JSON or XML. The receiver’s application processes the data sent in the HTTP POST request. The processing can involve a variety of actions, depending on the objective of the webhook. After processing the webhook, the receiver application typically sends a response (e.g., an HTTP status code) back to the sender to acknowledge the receipt of the webhook and to indicate whether the webhook processing was successful.

The stages that make up a typical webhook action are listed below in the order that they are stated:

1. Event occurs: In one application or service, an event takes place.
2. Webhook registration: The application that wants to be notified of this event (the receiver) provides a callback URL or webhook URL endpoint to the application where the event occurs (the sender).
3. Event triggers: The event takes place in one application or service (sender).
4. HTTP POST request: The webhook will make an HTTP request (typically a POST) to the target application (receiver).
5. Receiver processing: The receiver’s application processes the data sent in the HTTP POST request.
6. Response: After processing the webhook, the receiver application typically sends a response back to the sender to acknowledge the receipt of the webhook.

Examples of webhooks

• GitHub webhooks: GitHub provides webhooks that allow us to receive notifications in our application when events like code pushes, pull requests, or issues are created or updated in a GitHub repository.
• Stripe webhooks: Stripe is a payment processing service that offers webhooks to notify us about payment events, such as successful payments or failed charges.
• Slack webhook: Slack provides webhooks for sending messages and data from external services into a Slack channel.

Webhooks vs. APIs

Although both webhooks and APIs are methods used in web development to facilitate communication between different kinds of software, they serve different purposes and operate in distinct ways.

Here is an outline of how webhooks and APIs vary from one another:

• Direction: Webhooks automatically “push” data in response to events. APIs exchange data based on explicit requests in a “push” or “pull” process.
• Trigger: Webhooks are event-driven, while APIs are request-driven.
• Configuration: Webhooks need configuration for specific events and endpoints. Without event-based setup, APIs offer callable endpoints.
• Frequency: Webhooks operate in real time. APIs operate based on the frequency of requests.
• Security: Webhooks push data to exposed endpoints, requiring security measures. APIs often demand authentication to data access.
• Use cases: Webhooks are typically used for real-time notifications, while APIs handle a wide range of operations, such as data retrieval and updates.

Depending on the application’s specific needs and use cases, one may choose to make use of an API or a webhook.

Webhooks vs. gRPCs

gRPC is a framework for building high-performance, open-source RPC-based communication between applications, while webhooks are a mechanism for event-driven communication, often used for real-time notifications and integration with external services. The choice between gRPC and webhooks will rely on our application’s integration needs, communication preferences, and performance requirements.