What is Message Oriented Middleware (MOM)?

MOM allows general purpose messages to be exchanged in a Client/Server system using message queues. Applications communicate over networks by simply putting messages in the queues and getting messages from queues. It typically provides a very simple high level APIs to its services. MOM's messaging and queuing allow clients and servers to communicate across a network without being linked by a private, dedicated, logical connection. The clients and server can run at different times. It is a post-office like metaphor.