Atomicity

Imagine we are at an ATM, trying to transfer $100 from our savings account to our checking account. This seemingly simple action actually involves two distinct steps: (1) debiting $100 from savings, and (2) crediting $100 to checking. Now, what if the ATM crashes right after debiting our savings but before crediting our checking? We’d be $100 poorer in savings, with no corresponding increase in checking! That’s a data disaster. This is precisely where the concept of atomicity comes in to save the day. It ensures that multi-step operations like our bank transfer happen completely or not at all, preventing such inconsistencies.

By the end of this lesson, we will:

• Understand the concept of Atomicity in database transactions.

• Recognize the importance of Atomicity for maintaining data integrity.

• Learn how Atomicity is implemented in MySQL using START TRANSACTION, COMMIT, and ROLLBACK.

• Identify scenarios where Atomicity is crucial for reliable database operations.

What is atomicity?

Atomicity is one of the four key properties (A-C-I-D) that guarantee database transactions are processed reliably. The ‘A’ in ACID stands for Atomicity. In simple terms, atomicity means that a transaction (a sequence of one or more database operations) is treated as a single, indivisible unit of work. This means that either all the operations within the transaction are completed successfully and their changes are permanently saved to the database ...