Chapter 2: Architectural Overview of Apache ShardingSphere

In this chapter, we will introduce you to Apache ShardingSphere's architecture, which also serves as a gateway to a deeper understanding of what a distributed database is. A thorough introduction of the architecture is essential for you to develop a fundamental understanding of how ShardingSphere is built so that you can better use it in your production environment.

We will guide you through some new concepts that have emerged in the database field, such as Database Mesh, while also sharing with you the driving development concept of our community—Database Plus.

We will start by introducing the typical architecture of a distributed database and then proceed by looking at layers, as ShardingSphere is built on a three-layer logic.

The first layer includes the kernel with critical features working in the background to make sure everything runs properly on your database. These critical features are a transaction...