Why Remote Procedure Calls Can Never Truly Mimic Local Function Calls

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Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is a widely used abstraction that allows developers to invoke functions on remote machines as if they were local, hiding the complexity of network communication. Before any call is made, it must be serialized into bytes, transmitted over protocols like TCP or UDP, and reconstructed on the receiving end — a process invisible to the application developer. While this abstraction simplifies development, it conceals fundamental differences between local and remote execution, including byte-order mismatches, encoding inconsistencies, and data serialization challenges. The original RPC model, described by Birrell and Nelson and formalized in standards like ONC RPC, centers on a stub-based mechanism where client and server stubs handle message construction and argument reconstruction. Understanding where this abstraction breaks down is critical for building reliable distributed systems, particularly when network failures, latency, or data representation differences come into play.

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