Webhooks: Complete Guide with Java Implementation - Event-Driven Architecture, Real-Time Integrations, and Best Practices
🎯 Introduction Webhooks are HTTP callbacks that enable real-time, event-driven communication between applications. Instead of continuously polling for updates, webhooks allow systems to push data immediately when events occur. This comprehensive guide explores webhook architecture, compares different integration approaches, and provides production-ready Java implementations with real-world examples from Stripe, Shopify, and GitHub. Webhooks have become essential for modern distributed systems, enabling efficient, scalable, and responsive integrations that power everything from payment processing to CI/CD pipelines and e-commerce automation.