What is a message queue?

A message queue allows producers to send messages that consumers process asynchronously. Queues help decouple services, smooth traffic spikes, perform background work, and improve resilience. Common systems include RabbitMQ, Amazon SQS, Kafka, and other messaging platforms, although their delivery and ordering models differ.

Key Takeaways
  • Queues decouple producers and consumers.
  • They are useful for background processing.
  • Queue semantics such as delivery guarantees and ordering depend on the messaging system.
Knowledge Check

Why would a Node.js application use a message queue?