Computer Science · Distributed Systems
A topic within Distributed Systems, itself one of 13 topics in that field and part of Computer Science.
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
CAP Twelve Years Later: How the "Rules" Have Changed
Eric Brewer · 2012
Revisits his own 2000 conjecture to argue the three-way choice was oversimplified: real partitions are rare and short, so systems mostly negotiate a…
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Primary sources and full treatments.
Brewer's Conjecture and the Feasibility of Consistent, Available, Partition-Tolerant Web Services
Seth Gilbert & Nancy Lynch · 2002
Proves Brewer's conjecture formally: under network partition a system must give up either consistency or availability.
3 works
Eric Brewer
Revisits his own 2000 conjecture to argue the three-way choice was oversimplified: real partitions are rare and short, so systems mostly negotiate a spectrum between consistency and availability rather than picking a corner outright.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Notes on this copyMartin Kleppmann
Argues CAP's definitions of consistency and availability are too narrow to guide real design decisions, and that the theorem is routinely invoked to justify choices it does not actually imply.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Notes on this copySeth Gilbert & Nancy Lynch
Proves Brewer's conjecture formally: under network partition a system must give up either consistency or availability.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Notes on this copy