Message Queue
A message queue is a form of asynchronous service-to-service communication used in distributed systems, where messages are stored in a queue until they are processed by a consumer. It decouples the sender (producer) and receiver (consumer) of messages, allowing them to operate independently and at different rates. This enables reliable, scalable, and fault-tolerant communication between applications or microservices.
Developers should use message queues when building systems that require decoupled communication, such as microservices architectures, event-driven applications, or batch processing workflows. They are essential for handling high volumes of data, ensuring message delivery even during failures, and improving system resilience by buffering requests between components. Common use cases include order processing in e-commerce, real-time notifications, and log aggregation.