Course contents(3/4)
Getting Started with ROS 2
Lesson 1.3 — DDS: The Middleware Underneath
10 min readWhat is DDS?
ROS 2 uses DDS (Data Distribution Service) as its middleware — the layer that actually moves messages between programs. You rarely touch DDS directly, but it powers everything.
DDS gives ROS 2:
Lower coupling — programs don't need to know each other's addresses; they discover each other automatically.
Scalability — works from one laptop to many machines on a network.
Reliability & security — configurable delivery guarantees and encryption.
Flexibility — swap DDS vendors without changing your code.
This is the same class of technology used in the defense and aerospace industries, which is a good sign of how robust it is.
Recap
DDS is the message-passing engine under ROS 2.
It enables automatic discovery, scalability, reliability, and security — for free.