# Latency vs. Throughput

These are two fundamental performance metrics that are often confused but measure very different things.

## Latency
**The time it takes to complete a single operation** — how long you wait for a response.

- Measured in units of time (milliseconds, seconds)
- Answers: *"How fast is one request?"*
- Example: If a website takes 200ms to load after you click, the latency is 200ms.

## Throughput
**The amount of work completed per unit of time** — total capacity.

- Measured in operations/second, requests/second, GB/s