While implementing a basic message queue is a fairly straightforward task, complex IT environments may include communications between separate operating systems and network protocols. Emails and text messages are other examples of asynchronous communication in the real world. The messages that are placed on the queue do not require an immediate response, but can be postponed until a later time. Because they are all produced at the same time, all but one of the first application's messages will be lost by the second application-unless they can be temporarily stored within a message queue.Ī message queue is a classic example of asynchronous communication, in which messages and responses do not need to occur at the same time. The differing speeds at which these two applications operate can pose an issue. For example, one application may sporadically create large volumes of messages at the same time, while another application may slowly process messages, one after another.
Message queues are necessary because different applications consume and produce information at different speeds. Messages consist of any data that an application wants to send, as well as a header at the start of the message that contains information about the data below it. As the name suggests, a message queue is a queue of messages that are sent between different software applications.
