CRDT

ELI5 — The Vibe Check

A CRDT (Conflict-free Replicated Data Type) is a data structure that multiple users can edit simultaneously without conflicts. Google Docs-style collaboration, but mathematically guaranteed to converge. Used in Figma, Linear, Notion, and most modern real-time apps.

Real Talk

Conflict-free Replicated Data Types are data structures designed for distributed systems where multiple nodes can update data independently and concurrently without coordination, then merge results deterministically. Two main families: state-based (CvRDTs) and operation-based (CmRDTs). Examples: G-Counters, LWW-Register, OR-Set, Yjs and Automerge (document CRDTs). Foundational to modern collaborative software.

When You'll Hear This

"We moved from OT to CRDTs for offline-first sync." / "Yjs is the reference CRDT library for documents."