Java Message Service, 2nd Edition

Dynamic Versus Administered Queues

Dynamic queues are queues that are created through the application source code using a vendor-specific API. Administered queues are queues that are defined in the JMS provider configuration files or administration tools.

The setup and configuration of dynamic queues tends to be vendor-specific. A queue may be used exclusively by one consumer or shared by multiple consumers. It may have a size limit (limiting the number of unconsumed messages held in the queue) with options for in-memory storage versus overflow to disk. In addition, a queue may be configured with a vendor-specific addressing syntax or special routing capabilities.

JMS does not attempt to define a set of APIs for all the possible options on a queue. It should be possible to set these options administratively, using the vendor-specific administration capabilities. Most vendors supply a command-line administration tool, a graphical administration tool, or an API for administering queues at runtime. Some vendors supply all three. Using vendor-specific administration APIs to create and configure a queue may be convenient at times. However, it is not very portable and may require that the application have administrator privileges.

JMS provides a QueueSession.createQueue(String queueName) method, but this is not intended to define a new queue in the messaging system. It is intended to return a Queue object that represents an existing queue. There is also a JMS-defined method for creating ...