The Two Generals’ Problem and Messaging in Distributed Systems
Coordinating distributed systems can feel a lot like trying to plan an attack with two generals on opposite hills who can only communicate by messenger. In my latest blog post for Particular Software, I explore how this age-old paradox—known as the Two Generals’ Problem—highlights the fundamental challenges of reliable communication over unreliable networks.
The post draws parallels between that thought experiment and modern distributed architectures, especially when it comes to messaging, retries, acknowledgments, and the death of distributed transactions. You’ll also discover why relying on the Distributed Transaction Coordinator is even worse than trusting a stormtrooper’s aim.
