

Starbucks Does Not Use Two-Phase Commit - Bluem00
http://www.enterpriseintegrationpatterns.com/ramblings/18_starbucks.html

======
bprater
Using Starbucks as an example of async communications is brilliant! I can
explain async to everyone I know now. Great article.

~~~
davidcthompson
And the idea that not all transactions have to work perfectly for a business
to run.

Every Starbucks leaves a few unclaimed drinks ever day, but they are still
raking in the cash.

~~~
bsaunder
I think many enterprise managers have a philosophically hard time with this
notion. And for some business models, perhaps they are correct to be
concerned. In general, I think async with error correction mechanisms is the
way to go.

------
michaelneale
Gregor is a good writer - he makes it very clear. His stuff kind of got lost
in the web 2.0 noise about how you don't need enterprisey stuff like
integration or messaging, but his points are always valid. Good to see people
are still reading him.

------
meat-eater
In the starbucks shops from where I live, you have to pay when you order. That
is before they write your name in your cup. So the problem the article is
talking about simply does not apply.

~~~
joshwa
Starbucks in NYC will radio or call out your drink order to the barista while
you're waiting in line for the cashier, then correlate by drink type (barista
yells "iced tall 2-pump classic iced coffee!")

side note-- there is a specific order to the way they call the drinks, too, as
in the example above: iced (go to the stack of plastic cups) tall (pick the
size) 2-pump classic (put the flavor/sugar syrup in the cup) iced coffee
(finally put the beverage in). Helps the baristas remember your drink order by
correlating the auditory with the physical, aiding short-term memory.

------
keating
Still no Erlang comments?

