Queues Are Courts

A queue is not a buffer. A queue is a place where claims wait for judgment.

When work enters a queue, it submits itself to adjudication.

I. The Fiction of “Just a Queue”

Queues are usually described as:

decoupling mechanisms

load smoothing

async plumbing

This is misleading.

A queue decides:

order of consideration

priority of claims

who waits

who proceeds

who is dropped

That is adjudication.

II. Enqueueing Is Filing a Claim

To enqueue work is to file a case.

The system promises:

the claim will be considered

under declared rules

in declared order

with declared outcomes

Undeclared queue behavior is arbitrary justice.

III. Ordering Is a Legal Decision

FIFO, LIFO, priority queues, delay queues are not technical preferences.

They decide:

whose claim is heard first

whose claim is delayed

whose claim may never be heard

Ordering is power.

Power must be justified.

IV. Dropping Is a Verdict

When a queue drops work:

the claim is denied

the case is dismissed

authority is revoked

Silent drops are secret verdicts.

Secret verdicts are illegitimate.

V. Retries Reopen Cases

Retrying a queued item:

re-files a claim

reopens a case

may change order

Retries must obey:

the same filing rules

the same limits

the same recordkeeping

Otherwise, persistence wins over justice.

VI. Dead-Letter Queues Are Appeals Courts

A dead-letter queue is not a trash bin.

It is an appeals court.

It holds:

rejected claims

failed judgments

unresolved cases

Discarding dead letters destroys the right to appeal.

VII. Queues Must Be Auditable

A lawful queue must record:

enqueue time

dequeue time

ordering rule

outcome (processed, delayed, dropped, retried)

reason codes

A queue without record cannot be audited.

Unauditable judgment is unlawful.

VIII. Replay Requires Queues

Replay must reproduce:

the same enqueue order

the same priorities

the same drops

the same retries

If queue behavior depends on runtime load, replay fails.

Failed replay is failed justice.

IX. Queues Are Not Infrastructure

Message brokers and task queues do not define law.

They execute it.

Queue law must live in:

kernel policy

registry configuration

versioned rules

Not in broker defaults.

X. Final Conclusion

Queues are courts.

A lawful system:

treats enqueued work as filed claims

declares ordering and priority rules

records all outcomes

preserves appeals

replays queue behavior deterministically

Anything else administers justice by accident instead of by law.