discover-distributed-systems

Consensus algorithms coordinate agreement across distributed nodes. Raft and Paxos are two approaches: Raft emphasizes understandability with leader-based replication, while Paxos provides Byzantine fault tolerance. This Skill surfaces implementations, trade-offs, and when to use each for your architecture.

CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types) enable automatic conflict resolution without coordination. They guarantee eventual consistency by design. This Skill covers CRDT fundamentals, specific types, and conflict-resolution strategies to replicate data across partitions safely.

Partitioning divides data across nodes to scale horizontally; sharding is a common partitioning strategy. This Skill explains partitioning approaches, replication strategies, and consistency trade-offs using concepts like vector clocks and the CAP theorem.

The CAP theorem states you can guarantee only two of Consistency, Availability, and Partition tolerance. Understanding this constraint is critical for choosing between strong and eventual consistency. This Skill covers CAP, vector clocks, and logical clocks to reason about your trade-offs.

Gossip protocols spread information probabilistically; distributed locks and leader election coordinate exclusive access. This Skill covers these mechanisms alongside probabilistic data structures, enabling you to design resilient peer-to-peer systems.