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Data & Analytics · Foundational

Database Transaction

A logical unit of work of one or more operations that must succeed or fail as a whole.

Definition

Transactions move a database from one consistent state to another and are governed by the ACID properties. They begin explicitly or implicitly and end with COMMIT or ROLLBACK. OLTP systems are built around many short transactions.

Example

Transferring money debits one account and credits another inside a single transaction.

Exam tip

A bank transfer is the classic example; partial completion must be impossible.

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