• The CAP theorem is a concept in distributed computing.
• It explains the trade-offs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.
It was proposed by Eric Brewer in 2000
• Consistency means that all nodes in the system see the same data at the same time.
• To achieve consistency, a system must update all nodes before returning a response to the user.
• Consistency makes it harder to scale a system because it requires more communication
between nodes.
• Availability means that every request gets a response, without guaranteeing that it contains the
most recent version of the data.
• To achieve availability, a system may return a stale copy of the data or fail to update all nodes.
Availability makes it easier to scale a system because it minimizes communication between nodes.
• Partition tolerance means that the system continues to function even if network partitions
occur.
• A network partition occurs when a subset of nodes cannot communicate with the rest of the
system.
Partition tolerance is essential for systems that need to operate in a distributed environment.
• The CAP theorem states that a distributed system can only satisfy two out of three properties:
consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.
• This means that in the event of a network partition, a system must choose between consistency
and availability.
• The choice depends on the specific needs of the system.
• CP systems prioritize consistency and partition tolerance over availability.
• In the event of a network partition, a CP system will stop responding to requests until
consistency is restored.
• Examples of CP systems include relational databases and some NoSQL databases.
• AP systems prioritize availability and partition tolerance over consistency.
• In the event of a network partition, an AP system may return stale or conflicting data.
Examples of AP systems include some NoSQL databases and distributed file systems
