Q22: Explain the ACID properties of relational database 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.