Atomicity
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Atomicity means a transaction is all-or-nothing — like an atom that cannot be split. Either every operation in the transaction succeeds, or none of them are applied. No half-finished state. It is the 'A' in ACID.
Real Talk
Atomicity is the database property that guarantees each transaction is treated as a single unit which either succeeds completely or fails completely. If any operation within the transaction fails, the entire transaction is rolled back, leaving the database in its original state.
When You'll Hear This
"Atomicity ensures the bank transfer either fully completes or fully reverts." / "Atomicity is the first property in ACID."
Related Terms
ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability)
ACID is the four guarantees a reliable database makes about transactions. It is the reason you trust a bank's database with your money.
Consistency
Consistency in databases means a transaction can only bring the database from one valid state to another valid state.
Durability
Durability means once the database says 'committed', your data is saved forever — even if the server crashes right after.
Isolation
Isolation means concurrent transactions do not see each other's in-progress changes.
Transaction
A transaction groups multiple database operations into one all-or-nothing bundle. Either ALL of them succeed, or NONE of them happen.