Latency

Latency is sometimes referred to as delay or ping rate. It’s the lag you experience while waiting for something to load.

Latency numbers every programmer should know (introduced in CS451 class):

Latency is the amount of time it takes that information to get from its source to you.

ECE222:

In Telecommunications

Latency is made of four components (main is 1 and 2):

  1. Transmission Delay Time it takes to place the complete data packet on the transmission medium
  2. Propagation Delay Time it takes to go from A to B
  3. Queuing Delay time needed for eaching intermediate or end device to hold the message, changes with the load imposed on the network
  4. Processing Delay time it takes node takes to process the message