Exploring the benefits of message queuing

Communication between various applications plays an important role in distributed systems. There are many examples of when a message queue can be used, so let's highlight some features and benefits of message queuing in microservice architectures:

• Development and maintenance made easier: Dividing an application across multiple services allows separate responsibilities and gives developers the freedom to write code for a specific service in any chosen language. It will be easier to maintain written code and make changes to the system; when updating a single authentication scheme, only the authentication module must have code added for testing, without it disrupting any other functions.
• Fault isolation: A fault can be isolated to a single module and will thereby not affect other services. For example, an application with a reporting service temporarily out of function will not affect the authenticate or payment services. As another example, making changes to the reporting service still allows customers to perform essential transactions, even when they aren't able to view reports.
• Enhanced levels of speed and productivity: Different developers are able to work on different modules at the same time. In addition to speeding up the development cycle, the testing phase is also impacted by the use of microservices and message queues. This is because each service can be tested on its own to determine the readiness of the overall system.
• Improved scalability: Microservices also allow for effortless scale-out at will. It's possible to add more consumers if the message queue is growing. Adding new components to just one service is easy to do without changing any other service.
• Easy to understand: Since each module in a microservice architecture represents a single functionality, getting to know the relevant details for a task is easy. For example, hiring a consultant for a single service does not require them to understand the entire system.

Now that is enough knowledge to be dangerous, so it is a good time to dive into the RabbitMQ scenario company that sets the scene for the rest of this book.