Optimistic Concurrency Control
Optimistic Concurrency Control (OCC) is a database concurrency control method that allows multiple transactions to proceed without locking resources, assuming conflicts are rare. It works by allowing transactions to read and modify data freely, then checking for conflicts only at commit time using version numbers or timestamps. If a conflict is detected, the transaction is rolled back and must be retried.
Developers should use OCC in high-read, low-conflict environments like web applications or distributed systems where performance is critical and locking overhead is undesirable. It's particularly useful for scenarios with infrequent data collisions, such as collaborative editing or e-commerce inventory management, as it reduces blocking and improves throughput compared to pessimistic locking.