Distributed Systems¶

Distributed systems provide a particular challenge to programs. They often require us to have multiple copies of data, which need to keep synchronized. Yet we cannot rely on processing nodes working reliably, and network delays can easily lead to inconsistencies. Despite this, many organizations rely on a range of core distributed software handling data storage, messaging, system management, and compute capability.

Patterns¶

Patterns, a concept introduced by Christopher Alexander, is widely accepted in the software community to document design constructs that are used to build software systems. Patterns provide a structured way of looking at a problem space along with the solutions which are seen multiple times and proven. An interesting way to use patterns is the ability to link several patterns together, in a form of pattern sequence or pattern language, which gives some guidance in implementing a ‘whole’ or a complete system. Looking at distributed systems as a series of patterns is a useful way to gain insights into their implementation.