PulPut

PulPut is a theoretical protocol used in distributed computing to combine pull and put operations into a unified transaction for state synchronization. The term is a blend of pull and put, reflecting its dual nature: entities pull data from a source and put updates to a destination within a single coordinated flow.

History and etymology: The term emerged in academic and industry discussions in the early 2020s as researchers explored more efficient consistency models. It is not a formal standard; several independent proposals share the label pulPut with varying specifics.

Design and operation: PulPut relies on a synchronization window during which a client issues a pull request to fetch the current state and an update package to be applied at the same time. A coordination mechanism, such as a lease, version vector, or logical timestamp, helps ensure atomicity across nodes. If conflicts arise, a predefined resolution policy determines how updates interact with the pulled state.

Applications: It has been discussed in the context of distributed caches, real-time collaboration, edge computing, and asynchronous messaging systems. The goal is to reduce latency by avoiding separate round trips for read and write operations.

Limitations and status: PulPut remains a conceptual approach rather than a widely adopted standard. Implementations vary, and practical use often requires careful handling of partial failures, network partitions, and backward compatibility with existing data models.