Q22: Explain the ACID properties of relational database transactions.

Difficulty:MediumTopic:Transactions

ACID guarantees that database transactions are executed reliably:

  • Atomicity: 'All-or-Nothing' execution. If any statement in a transaction fails, all changes are fully rolled back.
  • Consistency: Ensures transactions transition the database from one valid state to another, preserving all schema constraints.
  • Isolation: Concurrent transactions execute without interfering with one another's uncommitted state.
  • Durability: Once a transaction commits, its changes persist permanently on disk even during system crashes.
Key Takeaways
  • ACID properties guarantee financial-grade reliability for transaction processing systems.
  • Atomicity relies on write-ahead logging (WAL) to support rollback operations.