What is realtime?

Realtime systems are those that can react to events as they occur, before their importance diminishes. In a business context, realtime involves extracting value from events with small windows of opportunity. Examples include live document collaboration, system monitoring, and asset tracking. Realtime applications require low latency, scalability, and event-driven architectural choices. Key features of dependable realtime platforms include performance predictability, reliability, availability, and integrity. Event-driven architecture complements traditional approaches when handling the challenges of realtime requirements. Hard deadlines cannot be missed in hard realtime systems, while soft realtime systems experience quality degradation as time passes beyond a deadline. Realtime applications can dramatically shorten feedback loops and bring business value now. Engineering dependable realtime reactions is not trivial but has significant potential.