🔗 The dangers of the Single Global Process

The Single Global Process (SGP) pattern, although seemingly elegant, introduces serious issues in distributed systems. Highlighted by the author, such as in the context of building Elixir applications, using SGP can lead to data integrity problems when scaling beyond a single node. The reliance on a long-running process to manage state can result in duplicate counters and inconsistent data, especially during network partitions or "netsplits." The article delves into the shortcomings of SGP, offering insights on its pitfalls and discussing potential partial solutions like Compare and Swap (CAS) operations. For anyone involved in Elixir or Erlang systems, understanding these challenges is crucial to designing reliable applications that can scale effectively. The emphasis is on the necessity of recognizing the fragile nature of SGP in favor of more robust distributed solutions.