Queueing Theory and Scheduling

Queueing theory and scheduling is the mathematical study of waiting lines and the strategic allocation of resources to service them. As a core component of systems science, it provides analytical models to understand and predict the behavior of systems where demand for a service contends for limited capacity, focusing on metrics like wait times, queue lengths, and resource utilization. Scheduling, in turn, applies these insights to develop and implement policies and algorithms that determine the order in which tasks or customers are processed, aiming to optimize system performance by minimizing delays, maximizing throughput, or ensuring fairness across diverse applications such as computer networks, manufacturing, and service operations.