Best Lightweight PHP Message Queue

Messaging queues are essential components of a smooth-functioning distributed network. But some message brokers work better to link up microservices. That’s especially the case if inputs are written in PHP.

A message queue is not only necessary but helps to make all processes more efficient. A lightweight message broker helps ensure your processes are not encumbered by heavy components like those based on Java or other languages.

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What is PHP?

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is an open-source programming language embedded in HTML. It executes on a server, so the recipient does not see the underlying code. PHP is simple and easy to use for beginners and developers of straightforward web applications.

Developers can use sets of premade, reusable PHP components like Symfony to make work easier and to ensure flexibility and consistency across use cases.

Because of its wide use and the fact that it adopts open-source code, many people work on PHP. If there is a bug, it is often identified quickly and fixed. PHP is fast executing and ideal for simple workflows.

Symfony makes the job of writing PHP applications even easier because you do not have to repeat reusable code.

What are the Limitations of PHP?

The same things that make PHP ideal for some use cases make the language poor for others. A request that includes PHP is executed and then discarded. The information is not retained for future use.

That would be fine but can result in stalls if there is a particularly long request. PHP mandates that the request executes in its entirety before the workflow can continue. That can leave the user on the other end of the request hanging, waiting for confirmation that the process is complete.

How Can Messaging Queues Solve PHP Issues?

PHP can prove problematic especially for asynchronous systems. PHP is designed to execute immediately, which means that web applications don’t complete until the PHP task is done. Message queuing allows you to delay the execution of the PHP script, so there’s no holdup in backend processes. The system can take in new messages and end-users won’t receive timeout messages. Processes will appear to complete in real-time, even if the queue system is compiling tasks for the worker process.

Why Choose a Lightweight Message Queue?

There are many reasons to use microservices, cloud networks, and programming languages like PHP in the first place: they allow for expediency through segmented applications and code that is easy to execute. PHP may be less dynamic but easier to execute than JavaScript, for example. PHP is ideal for straightforward applications that have a range of uses. It is both functional and does not overburden the system with complex code.

When you want to implement a way to smooth out message routing, you don’t want to add another layer of processes that overcomplicate your network architecture. A messaging queue that takes up too much of your system’s resources can put pressure on the web server and negate any of the benefits of having a task queue. A lightweight message broker ensures this solution helps more than hurts when you are looking for the best way to send http requests.

How Do You Choose the Right Message Queue for Asynchronous Tasks?

There are many providers of messaging queues on the market. Most provide the features you require of message queuing that ensure efficiency, such as locking to prevent duplicate execution and fanning to send the task to multiple recipients. But those are not the only benchmarks; there are several preferred elements of a queue system.

Most developers look at other criteria, such as latency and workload capacity. More specifically, a lightweight message queue solution should do what you require, but not create more problems in the system. Your DevOps team may want to do real-time and async tasks; async tasks are made even easier with a message queue that ensures even flow of jobs through the network, preventing overload or failure at any particular point.

How Can You Establish Benchmarks and Measure Latency?

Most developers are familiar with benchmarking. This process involves setting up a series of tests, running them through a program, and analyzing the results. The OpenMessaging Benchmark Framework, part of the Linux Foundation, has a series of tests for different messaging queue solutions. These tests vary by workload, allowing the user to determine the speed of processing.

This speed of processing allows you to assess the latency of each solution. Latency is the time it takes for a message to do a round trip from input. A message queue is essential for increasing the system speed when inputs use PHP code, so this factor — the amount of latency of a particular option — is one you should look at closely when choosing a new queue solution.

Some Common Providers of Lightweight Message Queues

Once you are ready to choose a lightweight PHP message queue, you should undertake a full assessment of your market options. Those in this list are all trusted providers, but only Iron.io has the full suite of features that allow you to optimize your microservices when you use PHP messages.

Iron.io

Iron.io offers Iron.io MQ, a superior messaging queue that is ideal for PHP code. The solution is robust but lightweight, providing a full slate of features which increase system performance but don’t occupy an unreasonable amount of system resources. Iron.io is also faster than many big competitors, such as Amazon SQS and RabbitMQ.

Among the benefits of choosing Iron.io is taking advantage of its full suite of features. Those include:

• Publish/Subscribe (pub/sub)
• High performance message queue
• MQ as a service option
• High availability
• Unlimited queues
• Push queues
• Persistent
• Elastic

IronMQ is scalable since it makes use of highly available data centers. When you partner with IronMQ you don’t have to worry about adding resources in order to increase capacity. In addition, IronMQ is one of the few providers that offers unlimited queues, so you never have to place limits on the number of inputs coming into your system — and users never receive an “error” or “failure to connect” http request notification.

While some of Iron.io’s competitors feature some of these benefits, none have them all. That’s why Iron.io may be the best choice when you are looking for a lightweight PHP message queue.

RabbitMQ

RabbitMQ is an open source message broker that many businesses and organizations use worldwide. It offers specific tutorials and demonstrations on how the message queue works with PHP. For comparison, you can also review the solution’s tutorials for message queuing for a Java process, which is more complicated.

Recommended reading: RabbitMQ vs Iron MQ

Apache Kafka

Kafka is also open source and touts its high availability and ability to connect to a wide range of events. Kafka claims a latency rate as low as 2 milliseconds and a scalable, dynamic structure. Because of Kafka’s large capabilities, it is trusted by enterprise-level clients and may be too large for a smaller network.

Recommended reading: Kafka vs Iron MQ

Redis

Redis has a specific solution, Redis Pub/Sub, that is billed as an “extremely lightweight” option. It is ideal for PHP messages that need to be processed quickly through a system. Low latency and high throughput are two aspects of this solution, according to the company.

Recommended reading: Redis RQ vs Iron.MQ: Which Service Is Better for Me?

Beanstalkd

Beanstalkd is a very lightweight solution. It is designed to take tasks out of an application and place them into a queue so the application responds faster. This solution was created out of necessity — to increase the efficiency of the Causes on Facebook application, supporting its 9.5 million users.

Recommended reading: Beanstalk vs IronMQ

Amazon SQS

Amazon SQS is also billed as a lightweight solution. It is a fully managed service that is part of the AWS ecosystem. The company recommends using Amazon SQS for new applications and Amazon MQ for existing applications. Amazon SQS has simple APIs from which users can benefit.

Recommended reading: Iron.mq vs Amazon SQS: What’s the Difference?

How Iron.io Helps

Iron.io is a backend features solution provider that also offers IronWorker, supporting the entirety of your network’s cloud infrastructure. Recent case studies demonstrate how the solution has increased the business success of clients in a diverse array of industries. Sign up for a free trial today!