It’s no secret that we’ve been using, building, and advertising message queues for the past few years, and we think they’re awesome.
Here are 10 reasons why we believe message queues are a critical component of any architecture or application:
1, the decoupling
It is extremely difficult at the beginning of a project to predict what requirements the project will encounter. Message queues insert an implicit data-based interface layer in the middle of the process that is implemented by both processes. This allows you to extend or modify both processes independently, as long as they adhere to the same interface constraints.
2, redundancy
Sometimes the process fails while processing the data. Unless the data is persisted, it is lost forever.
Message queues persist data until it has been fully processed, thus avoiding the risk of data loss.
In the “insert-retrieve-delete” paradigm used by many message queues, before removing a message from the queue, your process needs to explicitly indicate that the message has been processed, ensuring that your data is stored safely until you are done using it.
3. Scalability
Because message queues decouple your processing, it is easy to increase the frequency with which messages are queued and processed; Just add additional processing. No code changes, no parameters adjustments. Scaling is as simple as turning up the power button.
4. Flexibility & peak processing capability
When your app gets on the front page of Hacker News, you’ll see traffic climb to an unusual level. Your app needs to continue to function in the face of a surge in traffic, but such sudden traffic is rare; It would be a huge waste to invest resources in being able to handle these spikes.
Using message queues enables key components to withstand increased access pressure rather than completely collapse under an overload of requests.
5. Recoverability
When one component of the system fails, it does not affect the entire system. Message queuing reduces coupling between processes, so that even if a process that processes messages dies, messages that are queued can still be processed after the system recovers. This ability to allow retries or delay processing of requests is often the difference between a slightly inconvenienced user and a frustrated one.
6. Guarantee of service
The redundancy mechanism provided by message queues ensures that messages can actually be processed as long as a process reads the queue.
On top of this, IronMQ offers a “once delivery” guarantee. No matter how many processes are fetching data from the queue, each message can only be processed once. This is possible because getting a message simply “preorders” the message, temporarily removing it from the queue. Unless the client explicitly says it has finished processing the message, it is put back on the queue for processing after a configurable period of time.
7, sorting guarantee
In many cases, the order in which data is processed is important. Message queues are inherently sorted and guarantee that data will be processed in a particular order. IronMO guarantees that message paste is processed in FIFO (first in, first out) order, so the position of messages in the queue is their position retrieved from the queue.
8, buffer
In any significant system, there will be elements that require different processing times. For example, loading an image takes less time than applying a filter.
The message queue uses a buffer layer to help the task execute most efficiently — processing written to the queue is as fast as possible, without being constrained by pre-processing read from the queue. This buffering helps control and optimize the speed at which data flows through the system.
9. Understand data flow
In a distributed system, getting an overall impression of how long user actions take and why is a huge challenge.
The message series conveniently assists in identifying underperforming processes or areas where the data flow is not optimized by the frequency with which messages are processed.
10. Asynchronous communication
Many times, you don’t want or need to process messages immediately. Message queues provide asynchronous processing, allowing you to queue a message but not process it immediately. You can put as many messages on the queue as you like, and then process them when you like.
We believe the above ten reasons make message queues the best form of communication between processes or applications.
