Summary

This chapter introduced messaging concepts, including fire-and-forget methods and the Message Queuing service built into the Windows operating system. Message Queuing illustrates an important point. Sometimes creating an efficient, scalable distributed application isn't a matter of adding hardware or optimizing code, but just making compromises. If you have some tasks that can be performed at nonpeak times and you can change synchronous communication into an exchange of one-way messages, you can dramatically lessen the burden on parts of your distributed application.

For an example of the role Message Queuing can play in an application, refer to the case study in Chapter 17.