what is distributed system

A distributed system is a system whose components are located on different networked computers, which communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages to one another. In other words, it is a collection of autonomous computer systems that are physically separated but are connected by a centralized computer network that is equipped with distributed system software. Distributed systems are used when a workload is too great for a single computer or device to handle, and they are essential in situations when the workload is subject to change. Key characteristics of distributed systems include resource sharing, openness, and concurrency. The end user sees a distributed system as a single computational unit rather than as its underlying parts, allowing for transparency. Distributed systems can offer features that would be difficult or impossible to develop on a single system, such as fault tolerance, reliability, and accessibility. Modern distributed systems have evolved to include autonomous processes that might run on the same physical machine, but interact by exchanging messages with each other. The term "distributed system" is often used to refer to a variety of architectures, including microservices, horizontal scaling, partitioning (sharding), and more.