20 What is a B2C Commerce Service framework and why should you use it for external API calls?

The B2C Commerce Service framework is a managed approach to calling external HTTP, FTP, and SOAP services from server-side scripts. Services are configured in Business Manager under Operations > Services with URL, credentials, timeout, and mock mode settings.

In code, services are instantiated using LocalServiceRegistry.createService() (for cartridge-registered services) and called via service.call(params).

The service framework provides:

1. Connection pooling — reuses HTTP connections for performance
2. Timeout enforcement — prevents hanging server-side threads from blocking all quota threads
3. Circuit breaker — automatically disables a service if it starts failing and prevents cascading failures
4. Logging — automatically logs call duration, response codes, and errors to the custom log files
5. Mock mode — allows development and testing without calling live external APIs

Using the service framework for all external calls is a platform best practice and is enforced by Salesforce's code review for LINK cartridge certification.