January 26, 2023
Distributed Systems System Design Interview
The CAP theorem, also known as Brewer’s theorem, states that it is impossible for a distributed computer system to simultaneously provide all three of the following guarantees:
- Consistency: All nodes in the system see the same data at the same time.
- Availability: Every request receives a response about whether it was successful or failed.
- Partition tolerance: The system continues to operate despite arbitrary message loss or failure of part of the system.
The CAP theorem states that a distributed system can only provide two of the three guarantees at any given time. This means that when designing a distributed system, a trade-off must be made between consistency and availability, or consistency and partition tolerance. For example, a system that prioritizes consistency may sacrifice availability, or a system that prioritizes availability may sacrifice consistency.
*** Created by ChatGPT on Jan 26, 2023.
