How Figma Scales Real-Time Collaboration With CRDTs

Episode notes

Episode 36 of The CTO Podcast dives into how Figma built its real-time collaboration engine using Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs). Lucas and Luna unpack the architectural decision to move from Operational Transform to CRDTs, how Figma handles merge conflicts at scale, and the engineering tradeoffs behind its vector-based multi-user editing. They walk through the key design choices: why Figma chose a custom CRDT instead of off-the-shelf libraries, how it serialises operations for low-latency sync across hundreds of collaborators on a single file, and the surprising way it prioritises local responsiveness over consistency. Luna asks the hard questions about production incidents, and Lucas breaks down the monitoring approach behind Figma's 'real-time' guarantee. A concrete look at distributed systems theory meeting product design. #Figma #CRDT #RealTimeCollaboration #DistributedSystems #ConflictFreeReplicatedDataTypes #OperationalTransform #ProductDesign #Collaboration #Latency #Engineering #Architecture #Whiteboard #MultiUserEditing #Sync #VectorGraphics #BusinessAndTechnology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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