Latency is the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another within a system. It can be experienced in various aspects, such as network latency, database latency, or application latency. For example, when a user clicks on a button in a web application, the time it takes for the application to process the request and display the result is an example of latency.
This delay can be caused by various factors, such as network congestion, inefficient database queries, or slow server response times. As a developer, understanding and optimizing latency is essential for delivering a smooth and responsive user experience.
You can measure latency with distributed tracing tools such as OpenTelemetry to capture the timestamps of when a request is sent and when the response is received. By analysing this data, you can identify potential bottlenecks and optimize the code to reduce latency. For example, you can significantly improve the overall latency of your applications by optimizing database queries or implementing caching mechanisms.