Idempotency is a crucial concept in distributed systems and web applications, ensuring that performing the same operation multiple times produces the same result.

The lack of idempotency property can cause a lot of problems and bugs, which can make your startup go bankrupt.

Duplication of data

When your system does not have idempotency, you will have duplicated data that you don't want.
This is a bug, that will increase the support tickets requests.
You will also need some work to create a data migration to deduplicate this data.
This can also lead to wrong reports and data.

Duplicating payments

Without idempotency, you can duplicate payments, refunds, and withdrawals.
This will cause a loss of money for you and your customers.

Duplicating notifications

Send the same email or push notifications to the same user will cause friction and it is annoying to them.
Some users will mark your emails as spam, making your email delivery worse.
In the worst-case scenario, they can churn and stop using your buggy system.
A duplicate webhook was sent.

Inconsistency data

Duplicate data and unexpected side effects can cause data inconsistency causing problems like wrong balance in your ledger accounts.
Wrong reports.
Reducing the trust in your product from the customers.

In Conclusion

Duplicating something does not feel like a big deal, but it can cause a lot of problems.
Making sure your internal system has idempotency property and the external systems that you consume also have idempotency in place can help you avoid most of the problems avoid.

Woovi is an innovative startup revolutionizing the payment landscape. With Woovi, shoppers can enjoy the freedom to pay however they prefer. Our cutting-edge platform provides instant payment solutions, empowering merchants to accept orders and enhance their customer experience seamlessly.

If you're interested in joining our team, we're hiring! Check out our job openings at Woovi Careers.

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