ENGINEERING NOTEApril 20, 20261 min read
Designing Multiplayer Web Apps: CRDTs vs. Operational Transformation
A practical comparison of Yjs, Automerge, and OT. Why Conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs) are winning the real-time collaboration space.
Real-time collaboration tools require merging concurrent edits gracefully without a central database lock. While OT has been the standard for decades, modern CRDTs offer decentralization and offline-first capabilities.
We explore building a collaborative vector canvas with Yjs, resolving concurrent drag conflicts, and integrating WebRTC signaling servers for low-latency peer connectivity.
WRITTEN BY
Shubham Mukherjee
Full Stack & AI Engineer crafting high-performance web applications and intelligent machine learning systems.