What exactly is the message queue?

Unknown
Unknown
in Product

I feel like I have some rudimentary understanding of what the message queue is and what it will be for but I am not sure I fully understand in a way that I could explain to a client. I don't know if message queue is a 'global' term. Perhaps it is if you're a developer...? I was wondering if it would be possible to get a short breakdown of what it is and what it will be for.

For example, I was reviewing the initial epic related to Category Following and noticed that 1 of the points was notifications based on followed categories (message queue required). I vaguely understand that its required to make us more efficient at handling jobs like that but perhaps with an explanation I could speak from a position of confidence when I say explain to them why we don't have it yet and what it will be when we do have it.

Going to tag @Tim and @Todd since I figure they might be my best bet to explain.

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown

    Simple way to explain it is without a message queue, your asks to do something and you need to wait until it finishes.

    The message queue can request to do something and it'll get done when the server's free.

    This is particularly interesting for long tasks. Imagine you need to send out 1000 e-mails. You wouldn't want to just want for that task to finish. You want to ask for it and it'll get done when it does and you can move on to other things.

  • Vanilla Forums
    Vanilla Forums

    I can do a 15-minute presentation on this for the CSMs tomorrow if you want.

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