Grokking System Design Fundamentals
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Beyond CAP Theorem
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CAP is a simplified model that only considers a binary state (partition or no partition). In real systems, even when there’s no partition, there are still trade-offs — notably between consistency and latency/performance. To address this, researchers have proposed extensions and refinements to CAP.

PACELC Theorem

The most well-known extension is the PACELC theorem, introduced by Daniel Abadi around 2010. PACELC expands on CAP by asking: not only what happens during a Partition (P), but also what happens Else (E) when there’s no partition. In formal terms, PACELC says:

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