Welcome to the Distributed Systems series. In this article, we will learn and understand what the CAP theorem is. CAP stands for consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. When we talk about the CAP theorem, we mostly talk about distributed systems. First, let’s understand what a distributed system Is. A distributed system is a system that is made up of multiple processes that run on a single machine or multiple machines. In this lecture, we will learn about the CAP theorem from a distributed system perspective using a simple database analogy.
What Is the CAP Theorem?
CAP theorem states that in a Distributed System, while network partition occurs, we can only choose either consistency or availability. This was coined by Eric Brewer to understand distributed systems. CAP stands for consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.