#027 - 2023 vs 2001 Tech Recessions and Distributed Systems with Russ Ross
Nov 13, 2023
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Lane chats with his distributed systems professor, Dr. Russ Ross, about the hiring market in 2023, experiences during the tech recessions in 2001 and 2023, challenges of distributed systems, transitioning to distributed systems, frustration with online platforms for tech discovery, and opinions on object-oriented programming and ideological purity in engineering circles.
Distribution should only be introduced when necessary, as unnecessary distribution and complexity can impact efficiency.
Distributed storage systems offer reliable and high-performance transactions, allowing developers to offload complex coordination and concurrency problems.
The cap theorem states that consistency, availability, and partition tolerance cannot all be achieved simultaneously, but modern distributed storage systems offer solutions to mitigate the impact of network partitions.
Deep dives
Distributed systems and the need for distribution
Distributed systems are characterized by multiple computers cooperating on a task, such as a web browser connecting to a server. Distribution is necessary for tasks that require replication, failover, or handling large amounts of data or high latency. However, it is important to avoid unnecessary distribution and complexity, as it can impact efficiency. It is recommended to keep systems on a single machine until the need for distribution arises, such as when reliability, scalability, or latency requirements cannot be met otherwise.
Benefits of mature distributed storage systems
Distributed storage systems have become more robust and mature, offering reliable and high-performance transactions. This allows developers to offload complex coordination and concurrency problems to the storage systems, making it easier to design and develop large-scale applications. These storage systems handle the challenges of data partitioning and ensure consistency, availability, and reliability, allowing developers to focus on building applications without having to solve these complex problems themselves.
Partition tolerance and the challenges of network failures
Network failures can lead to temporary partitions in a distributed system, where certain nodes can communicate with each other, but not with others. Partition tolerance is a critical consideration in distributed systems design, and decisions must be made to prioritize consistency or availability during network partitions. The cap theorem states that consistency, availability, and partition tolerance cannot all be achieved simultaneously. However, modern distributed storage systems offer solutions to mitigate the impact of network partitions and provide eventual consistency when partitions occur.
The Shift Towards Performance in Programming Languages
The podcast discusses the changing attitudes towards programming language performance. In the past, there was a belief that slower languages like Python and Ruby would eventually improve. However, with the growing importance of absolute performance, developers are now considering languages like Go and Rust that offer modern features and great performance. The speaker shares a personal experience of saving tens of thousands of dollars in AWS bills by switching from Ruby to Go for a CPU-bound project.
Challenges in Distributed Systems
The podcast touches on the fundamental challenges of distributed systems. Three main differences are discussed: latency, lack of shared address space, and partial failure. Latency due to network communication can impact the performance of distributed systems. The absence of shared memory requires careful handling of data communication between nodes. Partial failure poses a unique challenge, as only specific parts of a distributed system may fail, and designing for fault tolerance is crucial. The speaker emphasizes the need to constantly consider and account for all potential failure scenarios in distributed systems.
Lane chats with his distributed systems professor from when he was a computer science undergraduate, Dr. Russ Ross. They talk about the state of the hiring market in 2023, LLVM, and of course, distributed systems!
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