# Send, receive, and delete Amazon Simple Queue Service messages
A message is a piece of data that can be sent and received by distributed components. Messages are always delivered using an [SQS Queue](examples-sqs-message-queues.md).
The `sqsClient` variable that is used in the following examples can be created from the following snippet.
```
SqsClient sqsClient = SqsClient.create();
```
When you create an `SqsClient` by using the static `create()` method, the SDK configures the Region by using the [default region provider chain](region-selection.md#default-region-provider-chain) and the credentials by using the [default credentials provider chain](credentials-chain.md).
## Send a message
Add a single message to an Amazon Simple Queue Service queue by calling the SqsClient client `sendMessage` method. Provide a [SendMessageRequest](https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/services/sqs/model/SendMessageRequest.html) object that contains the queue’s [URL](examples-sqs-message-queues.md#sqs-get-queue-url), message body, and optional delay value (in seconds).
**Imports**
```
import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.SqsClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.model.*;
import java.util.List;
```
**Code**
```
sqsClient.sendMessage(SendMessageRequest.builder()
.queueUrl(queueUrl)
.messageBody("Hello world!")
.delaySeconds(10)
.build());
sqsClient.sendMessage(sendMsgRequest);
```
## Send multiple messages in a request
Send more than one message in a single request by using the SqsClient `sendMessageBatch` method. This method takes a [SendMessageBatchRequest](https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/services/sqs/model/SendMessageBatchRequest.html) that contains the queue URL and a list of messages to send. (Each message is a [SendMessageBatchRequestEntry](https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/services/sqs/model/SendMessageBatchRequestEntry.html).) You can also delay sending a specific message by setting a delay value on the message.
**Imports**
```
import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.SqsClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.model.*;
import java.util.List;
```
**Code**
```
SendMessageBatchRequest sendMessageBatchRequest = SendMessageBatchRequest.builder()
.queueUrl(queueUrl)
.entries(SendMessageBatchRequestEntry.builder().id("id1").messageBody("Hello from msg 1").build(),
SendMessageBatchRequestEntry.builder().id("id2").messageBody("msg 2").delaySeconds(10).build())
.build();
sqsClient.sendMessageBatch(sendMessageBatchRequest);
```
See the [complete sample](https://github.com/awsdocs/aws-doc-sdk-examples/blob/cf25559da654a7b74bec039c0ab9397dc5951dd4/javav2/example_code/sqs/src/main/java/com/example/sqs/SQSExample.java#L133) on GitHub.
## Retrieve Messages
Retrieve any messages that are currently in the queue by calling the SqsClient `receiveMessage` method. This method takes a [ReceiveMessageRequest](https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/services/sqs/model/ReceiveMessageRequest.html) that contains the queue URL. You can also specify the maximum number of messages to return. Messages are returned as a list of [Message](https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/services/sqs/model/Message.html) objects.
**Imports**
```
import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.SqsClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.model.*;
import java.util.List;
```
**Code**
```
try {
ReceiveMessageRequest receiveMessageRequest = ReceiveMessageRequest.builder()
.queueUrl(queueUrl)
.maxNumberOfMessages(5)
.build();
List messages = sqsClient.receiveMessage(receiveMessageRequest).messages();
return messages;
} catch (SqsException e) {
System.err.println(e.awsErrorDetails().errorMessage());
System.exit(1);
}
return null;
```
See the [complete sample](https://github.com/awsdocs/aws-doc-sdk-examples/blob/cf25559da654a7b74bec039c0ab9397dc5951dd4/javav2/example_code/sqs/src/main/java/com/example/sqs/SQSExample.java#L148) on GitHub.
## Delete a message after receipt
After receiving a message and processing its contents, delete the message from the queue by sending the message's receipt handle and queue URL to the `SqsClient's` [https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/services/sqs/SqsClient.html#deleteMessage(software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.model.DeleteMessageRequest)](https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/services/sqs/SqsClient.html#deleteMessage(software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.model.DeleteMessageRequest)) method.
**Imports**
```
import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.SqsClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sqs.model.*;
import java.util.List;
```
**Code**
```
try {
for (Message message : messages) {
DeleteMessageRequest deleteMessageRequest = DeleteMessageRequest.builder()
.queueUrl(queueUrl)
.receiptHandle(message.receiptHandle())
.build();
sqsClient.deleteMessage(deleteMessageRequest);
}
```
See the [complete sample](https://github.com/awsdocs/aws-doc-sdk-examples/blob/cf25559da654a7b74bec039c0ab9397dc5951dd4/javav2/example_code/sqs/src/main/java/com/example/sqs/SQSExample.java#L187) on GitHub.
## More Info
+ [How Amazon Simple Queue Service Queues Work](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/sqs-basic-architecture.html) in the Amazon Simple Queue Service Developer Guide
+ [SendMessage](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/APIReference/API_SendMessage.html) in the Amazon Simple Queue Service API Reference
+ [SendMessageBatch](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/APIReference/API_SendMessageBatch.html) in the Amazon Simple Queue Service API Reference
+ [ReceiveMessage](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/APIReference/API_ReceiveMessage.html) in the Amazon Simple Queue Service API Reference
+ [DeleteMessage](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/APIReference/API_DeleteMessage.html) in the Amazon Simple Queue Service API Reference