What is the difference between causal and strong consistency?

What is the difference between causal and strong consistency?

Causal consistency ensures that operations are seen in the order they were causally related, while strong consistency guarantees that all operations appear to happen in a single, global order.

Can you give an example of each?

Sure! In causal consistency, if you read a message after sending it, you will see your message first. In strong consistency, all users see the same order of messages regardless of when they read them.

Which one is better for real-time applications?

It depends on the application. Strong consistency is better for applications needing strict data accuracy, while causal consistency can offer better performance and responsiveness.

Are there any trade-offs to consider?

Yes, strong consistency can lead to higher latency and reduced availability, while causal consistency may allow for more concurrent operations but can lead to stale reads.