Skip to content
scrambled
Parallel And Distributed Programming Concept

Consensus Problem

JourneyParallel And Distributed Programming Statuslearning Tags
  • parallel programming
  • distributed systems

A fundamental problem in concurrent and distributed computing where n processes each propose a value and must all agree on a single decided value. A correct consensus protocol satisfies three properties:

  • Agreement: All processes that decide, decide the same value.

  • Validity: The decided value was proposed by some process (no value appears from thin air).

  • Termination: Every non-faulty process eventually decides.

The consensus problem is central to the theory of concurrent objects because it determines which synchronization primitives can implement which objects wait-free.