What is Logical clock in distributed system?

A logical clock in a distributed system is a mechanism for ordering events in a way that doesn't rely on synchronized physical clocks. It provides a method to assign a sequence of timestamps to events, ensuring that if one event causally influences another, the first will have an earlier timestamp. One common implementation is Lamport timestamps, which use a counter that increments with each event and is updated based on message exchanges between distributed nodes. This approach helps maintain a consistent order of events across the system without requiring synchronized timekeeping.