What does "load balancing" mean in programming?
load balancing is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
The distribution of incoming network traffic across multiple servers so no single server becomes a bottleneck. A load balancer sits in front of a set of servers and forwards each request using a strategy (round-robin, least connections, IP hash). Load balancing enables horizontal scaling and improves availability.
Example
"We put a load balancer in front of our three API servers. When one goes down, the load balancer routes traffic to the remaining two automatically."
Related terms
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