HACKER Q&A
📣 ElFitz

Web apps and mobile apps and back end = distributed system?


Hi!

I apologise for the title; I just couldn't find a way to fit the question in the characters count limit.

Basically, would you say that clients (either web and, or, mobile), together with the backend, form a single distributed system? Why? Why not?

I suppose that _it depends_. But does viewing them as a distributed system give any useful insight, tools or concepts that could be reused when integrating clients and the backend?

Or is it just an amusing thought experiment but a dead-end nonetheless?

Have a nice day!

  👤 warrenm Accepted Answer ✓
They form a client-server model - which may, or may not, be a "distributed system"

If the web apps and mobile apps are all communicating with a more-or-less monolithic backend, it's not "distrbiuted", it's only client-server

If the backend is distributed (and not just a DR failover), and/or compute is happening in the mobile or web apps as well, then you have a "distributed system"

See also:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_computing

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client%E2%80%93server_model