This assignment delved into the intricacies of the Two-Phase Commit protocol, exploring how clients coordinate operations with participants (servers in our case), leading to a transaction prepared by a coordinator. The subsequent commit phase relies on unanimous participant votes, ensuring the transaction's adherence to the ACID properties in a distributed environment. The assignment's primary goal was to implement and understand the mechanics of distributed transactions, emphasizing the importance of coordination and consensus for consistency. Future extension of the project can include implementing the optional rollback.
The technical impression section helps to determine what parts of the assignment need clarification, improvement, etc., for the future.
The provided skeleton code, accessible through Piazza, proved instrumental in grasping the fundamentals of the Two-Phase Commit protocol. The timely assistance from Teaching Assistants, addressing queries promptly, significantly aided the learning process. However, there are areas for improvement, particularly in code naming conventions. For instance, renaming "prepare" to "vote to commit" might enhance clarity, especially for those new to distributed systems. Additionally, initial instructions contained irrelevant details about TCP/UDP, causing confusion, and could be streamlined for better coherence with the project's focus. Overall, while the assignment effectively covered the protocol's implementation, refining code semantics and eliminating unnecessary instructions would enhance the learning experience for participants.