About Application Integrations

An application integration runs when a business activity occurs, such as a customer submitting an order; or when someone adds or changes something in an integration. Application integrations can be synchronous or asynchronous, depending on whether they provide an immediate response.

Quick Introduction to Sync and Async

If you require real-time information, create a synchronous integration.

For the sake of efficiency, you might want to pair it with an asynchronous integration.
To perform work in batch operations, create an asynchronous integration.

An asynchronous integration is sometimes called fire and forget.

Real-World Analogy: Phone versus Email

Consider a situation that you've probably encountered: You need a coworker who is in a different location to complete a task for you.

You have several options for contacting your coworker:

If the task is urgent and time sensitive, you call your coworker

You need to know that they received your request and that they'll start and finish the task quickly.

In the integration world, this scenario is equivalent to a synchronous integration. Synchronous integrations send immediate responses and run quickly, usually in seconds or less.
If the task isn't urgent or time sensitive, you email your coworker

You won't get a confirmation that they have read the message, but you know that your coworker is very responsive to requests. They'll fit the task into their schedule as soon as they can.

In the integration world, this scenario is equivalent to an asynchronous integration. Oracle Integration adds the requests for asynchronous integrations to a queue and processes the requests as soon as it can.

Learn More About Synchronous and Asynchronous Integrations