# CAP Theorem in Practice
AI-readable version of this post.
Path: /classics/cap-theorem-in-practice
Category: Classics
Date: 2012-05-01
Author: Distributed Systems
Reading time: 1 min
Description: Consistency and availability tradeoffs during network partitions.
## What CAP says

When partitions happen, distributed systems must choose between strong consistency and full availability for that operation.

## Common mistakes

- CAP is not a permanent global setting.
- Partition tolerance is not optional in real networks.
- Most systems pick tradeoffs per endpoint, not one label forever.

## Practical design

For payments and identity, many teams prefer consistency during faults. For feeds and analytics counters, eventual consistency is often acceptable.