Scalability / Consistency
Kind: tension
Record: tension:consistency-scalability
Canonical: Schema
"scalability" (performance-core layer) is traded against "Consistency" (atomic-boundary layer) — a principle cannot be scope-separated from a quality, metric, or cost it competes with; resolve by measuring "Consistency" and choosing an explicit operating point.
Listed in Tensions, after Scalability / Simplicity and before Horizontal Scaling / Distributed Coordination.