What does CAP theorem imply in distributed systems?

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When a distributed system experiences a network partition, you can’t have both strict consistency and high availability at the same time. Consistency means every read reflects the most recent write, while availability means every request gets a (usually real-time) response. Partition tolerance means the system keeps operating despite the network split. The CAP theorem says you must choose between prioritizing consistency or prioritizing availability during a partition (you can’t have all three simultaneously under those conditions). This is why the statement describing the trade-off in the presence of a partition is the best answer: you must compromise between keeping data consistent across nodes or continuing to respond to requests, with the understanding that partitions can and do occur in real networks. In practice, systems are designed as CP (prefer consistency) or AP (prefer availability) depending on the application's needs, accepting that the other property may be relaxed during partitions.