Optimistic vs Pessimistic Locking
Optimistic vs Pessimistic Locking
MediumDatabases0% accepted
Two users edit the same inventory record at once and one overwrites the other (lost update). Compare optimistic and pessimistic locking to prevent it. Cover: how a version/timestamp column enables optimistic concurrency, when SELECT ... FOR UPDATE (pessimistic) is better, and the deadlock risk of locks.
Approach
Optimistic: no lock; check a version column on update and retry on conflict — great for low contention. Pessimistic: SELECT FOR UPDATE locks the row up front — better for high contention but risks deadlocks/blocking.
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