How software systems work, drawn step by step
APIs, caching, payments, sign-in and deploys: how the systems behind everyday products work, one diagram at a time.
CAP theorem explained with one bank balance
The CAP theorem says a distributed database can't stay both consistent and available while its network is split. Here is the choice drawn with one bank balance on two servers.
TCP vs UDP: the difference, drawn step by step
TCP makes sure every byte arrives, in order. UDP sends and moves on. Here is how each one delivers data, why their headers differ, and which apps use which.