Operational Transformation
Operational Transformation (OT) is a technique used in collaborative editing systems to maintain consistency across multiple users editing the same document simultaneously. It works by transforming concurrent operations (like insertions or deletions) to ensure they can be applied in any order while preserving the intended outcome. This enables real-time collaboration without locking or overwriting changes, commonly seen in tools like Google Docs.
Developers should learn OT when building real-time collaborative applications, such as text editors, code editors, or shared whiteboards, where multiple users need to edit the same content concurrently. It's essential for ensuring data consistency and resolving conflicts in distributed systems, as it allows operations to be applied in a way that maintains a coherent state across all clients. OT is particularly useful in scenarios requiring low-latency updates and seamless user experience without manual merge conflicts.