Strong, eventual, causal — understand the CAP theorem trade-offs that shape every distributed system decision.
Five passes over the same idea, each from a different angle. Do them in order, or jump to whichever you need.
Consistency models define what guarantees a distributed system provides about data visibility. Strong consistency ensures every read sees the latest write. Eventual consistency allows temporary staleness for higher availability. Causal consistency preserves cause-and-effect ordering. The CAP theorem forces trade-offs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.
