Why it matters

OT is legacy but still widely deployed. Understanding contrasts CRDT approaches.

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The architecture

Each user's edit transformed against others' concurrent edits.

Transform functions must satisfy properties: TP1 (transformed pairs converge) and TP2 (nested).

OT transformationUser A editat position iUser B concurrentdifferent positionTransform + applyconsistent stateOT complexity is why CRDTs are gaining adoption; OT is battle-tested but hard
OT process.
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How it works end to end

Server-mediated typical: clients send ops to server; server transforms and broadcasts.

Peer-to-peer OT requires TP2 which is famously hard.

Applications: Google Docs (server-mediated), older Etherpad.