Outline of databases

Ever wonder how your online bank keeps your money safe during transactions?

Imagine you're transferring money from your savings to your checking account. You want to make sure the money moves from one place to another without losing any along the way.

Think of a transaction like handing over a stack of coins. You want to make sure every single coin is handed over without dropping any or getting lost. If one coin is lost, it's a problem because you can't have half a coin.

Example

You have 100 coins to transfer. If the transfer process is like handing them over one by one, you want to make sure all 100 coins move from your savings to your checking account.

Remember this

The ACID properties ensure that a transaction is treated as a single, indivisible unit that either fully succeeds or fully fails, maintaining the integrity of your data.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Related concepts

ACID

ACID guarantees data validity in transactions

SQL vs NoSQL: SQL enforces schema and ACID, NoSQL offers flexibility and horizontal scaling

Ever wondered how databases handle massive data across the globe?

consistent hashing solves: minimizes key redistribution when servers are added/removed

Consistent hashing minimizes key redistribution when servers are added/removed

CAP theorem states: you can have at most 2 of consistency, availability, partition tolerance

Ever wondered why you can't always get the latest news instantly?

amortized O(1) means

Why does a slow day at the bank not mean every transaction is slow?

Overdrawn at the Memory Bank

Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was shot on videotape due to budget constraints

Swipe through 100 ML concepts daily

Open Pocket Polymath