Two Generals' Problem: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:17, 26 February 2023

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{{short description|Thought experiment}}

[[File:2-generals.svg|right|thumb|300px|Positions of the armies. Armies A1 and A2 cannot see one another directly, so need to communicate by messengers, but their messengersmessages may be captured by army B.]]

In computing, the '''Two Generals' Problem''' is a [[thought experiment]] meant to illustrate the pitfalls and design challenges of attempting to coordinate an action by communicating over an unreliable link. In the experiment, two generals are only able to communicate with one another by sending a messenger through enemy territory. The experiment asks how they might reach an agreement on the time to launch an attack, while knowing that any messenger they send could be captured.