What is Sidekiq and why is it used?

Beginner

Answer

Sidekiq is a background job processing framework for Ruby applications that uses threads to handle many jobs concurrently. It's used to move time-consuming tasks out of the web request cycle, improving application response times. Sidekiq processes jobs asynchronously using Redis as its job store, allowing web applications to respond quickly while heavy tasks run in the background.

Key benefits include:

  • Improved user experience with faster page loads
  • Better resource utilization through concurrent processing
  • Reliable job processing with automatic retries
  • Scalability through multiple worker processes