Latency. Reduce delay in software systems

In the book, you will learn:

• to correctly determine latency, distinguish it from bandwidth, and evaluate its impact on UX
• to model performance using Little's Law and Amdahl's Law, measure and visualize delays
• to optimize data access through colocation, replication, partitioning, and caching
• to accelerate computations through algorithmic optimizations, memory tuning, and lock-free concurrent structures
• to minimize delays through asynchronous processing, predictive methods, and speculative execution

Latency is the delay between cause and effect. In practice, its excess leads to a wide range of problems: from incorrect computational results and timeouts to user dissatisfaction, which can lead to users leaving the application. Eliminating and diagnosing such delays often proves to be challenging. This book combines fundamental ideas with practical techniques, transforming research findings into tools that can be used immediately.

About the Technology

From lost microseconds in message routing to long page loads, latency can undermine even a high-quality software solution. This book shows how to identify, understand, and eliminate delays in applications and infrastructure.