{"id":7467,"date":"2017-03-24T18:07:11","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T18:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/queueing-theory\/"},"modified":"2017-03-24T18:07:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T18:07:11","slug":"queueing-theory","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory","title":{"rendered":"Queueing Theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Does Queueing Theory Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Queueing theory is the study of queueing systems in which individual objects are processed in a linear way. This type of observational process is useful in IT system engineering and other fields.\n<\/p>\n

Techopedia Explains Queueing Theory<\/span><\/h2>\n

Aspects of queueing theory involve looking at the source of items in the queue, wait times for these items, demand and supply in terms of input, and the general management of the queue itself. Evaluating a \u201cfirst in first out\u201d (FIFO) or \u201clast in first out\u201d (LIFO) input process is an example of the implementation of queueing theory.\n<\/p>\n

Engineers and other professionals may use queueing theory in a variety of ways. There is the general evaluation of how resources are used in a network system, where CPU performance might be monitored, or professionals might look at response times for processes. Generally, queueing theory helps with workflow management and identifying bottlenecks in systems, and generally improving IT performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Does Queueing Theory Mean? Queueing theory is the study of queueing systems in which individual objects are processed in a linear way. This type of observational process is useful in IT system engineering and other fields. Techopedia Explains Queueing Theory Aspects of queueing theory involve looking at the source of items in the queue, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[241],"class_list":["post-7467","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-computer-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Queueing Theory? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Queueing Theory and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Queueing Theory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Queueing Theory and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Queueing Theory\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-24T18:07:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory\"},\"wordCount\":160,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/14538\/queueing-theory\",\"name\":\"What is Queueing Theory? 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