Unreliable Messaging
Unreliable messaging is a communication pattern in distributed systems where message delivery is not guaranteed, and messages may be lost, duplicated, or delivered out of order. It prioritizes low latency and high throughput over reliability, often using protocols like UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for network transmission. This approach is common in scenarios where occasional data loss is acceptable, such as real-time streaming or gaming.
Developers should use unreliable messaging when building applications that require minimal latency and can tolerate some data loss, such as live video/audio streaming, online multiplayer games, or IoT sensor data where timeliness is critical. It reduces overhead compared to reliable protocols like TCP, making it suitable for high-frequency, low-priority data where retransmissions would be inefficient or disruptive.