A database transaction is a group of operations treated as a single, atomic unit of work. Transactions follow the ACID principles—Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability—to ensure reliability even in the presence of failures. Transactions protect data integrity when multiple updates must happen together.
Why it matters
Transactions are essential for maintaining correctness in relational databases, especially in financial systems, inventory updates, and concurrent operations. They prevent partial updates and ensure predictable behavior under load.
Examples
Updating two related tables as part of a purchase process or rolling back changes when an error occurs. Lessons like What Are Transactions? cover the details.