Beware the Queue

But the instant response time your companys computer system provides is of no value to you if the company requires your programming work to go behind production work in the computer queue. When you submit a program for a compile, it should immediately become active; you should get the results within seconds. If your compile-submitted jobs are languishing behind any other jobs in any queue, then you, too, are languishingbeing unproductive.

Queuing theory (the study of the queue as a technique for managingprocesses and objects in a computer, according to Google.com) runs a whole lot of the worldand particularly the computer world. I was introduced to the theory decades ago at IBMs Systems Research Institute in New York. Our class was taught by a brilliant young teacher named Shelly. He spent weeks drawing complex queuing-theory equations on the blackboards on all three sides of the classroom while discussing the merits of single vs. multi-server queues.

His studentsparticularly mecringed, awaiting the fateful final examination. Then, when almost everyone except the students from the IBM laboratories was in despair, Shelly said; Your final exam is to go down to the Dime Savings Bank and observe why they use a single queue of people served by many tellers, rather than a queue of people lined up before each teller. As I remember it, we all celebrated that evening because we had learned the essentials of queuing theory, which is to find and implement strategies that will avoid or minimize queues (waiting).

As a corporate programmer, you must avoid queues in your project design and in your work environment. This can be as basic as keeping your archived output (printer) queue free from old information that you will never want to review again. You shouldnt be wasting time looking through old information; your focus should be only on current information. When youre confronted with a queue, find a way around it

Unfortunately, finding a way around a queue wont always be as easy as keeping your printer queue free of old data. You may have to challenge company policy to get your work to the front of the queue. However, the stakes for your career are so high that addressing the problem with your manager will be more than worth your while.