What are Stateless and Stateful Systems?
Stateless Systems
Stateless systems are systems that do not maintain any state information about the client session on the server side between requests. Each request from a client to a stateless server is treated as an independent transaction that is not dependent on any previous request. This means that every request must contain all the necessary information for the server to fulfill it, and the server does not rely on any information from previous requests or sessions.
Examples include RESTful APIs, where each request contains all necessary information for processing, and serverless computing, where functions execute independently without maintaining state between invocations.
Stateful Systems
Stateful systems, on the other hand, maintain state information about the client session on the server side between requests. This means that the server keeps track of the clientâs state, such as session data, preferences, or any other relevant information, across multiple interactions or requests. In a stateful system, the server uses this stored information to provide a more personalized experience to the client and to maintain continuity between interactions.
Examples include traditional web applications with user sessions, databases that store persistent data, and distributed systems with shared state.
In essence, the choice between stateless and stateful systems depends on factors such as scalability requirements, data consistency needs, and the complexity of the applicationâs workflow.
Stateless and Stateful Systems in System Design
In System Design, the choice between stateless and stateful architectures is pivotal. Stateless systems treat each request independently, offering scalability but sacrificing state persistence. Conversely, stateful systems retain client state, ensuring data integrity but complicating scalability. This article teaches the characteristics of these approaches, showing their impact on scalability, fault tolerance, and data management.
Important Topics for Stateless and Stateful Systems
- What are Stateless and Stateful Systems?
- Real-World Analogy of Stateless and Stateful Systems
- Characteristics of Stateless Systems
- Stateless Architecture Patterns
- Characteristics of Stateful Systems
- Stateful Architecture Patterns
- Stateless vs. Stateful Systems
- Combining Stateless and Stateful Components
- Use-cases of Stateless and Stateful Systems
- Benefits of Stateless and Stateful Systems
- Challenges of Stateless and Stateful Systems
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