Queues
A queue is a fundamental data structure in computer science that follows the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) principle, where elements are added at the rear (enqueue) and removed from the front (dequeue). It is widely used for managing tasks, messages, or requests in a sequential order, ensuring fair processing and preventing resource contention. Queues are essential in scenarios like job scheduling, message passing in distributed systems, and handling asynchronous operations.
Developers should learn and use queues when building systems that require ordered processing, such as task queues in web applications (e.g., background jobs in Python with Celery), message brokers like RabbitMQ or Kafka for event-driven architectures, and load balancing in network traffic. They are crucial for decoupling components, improving scalability, and handling bursts of requests without overwhelming resources, making them key in microservices and real-time applications.