Transaction Logs
Transaction logs are sequential records of all changes made to a database or system, capturing operations like inserts, updates, and deletes in the order they occur. They serve as a critical mechanism for ensuring data integrity, enabling features such as recovery from failures, replication, and auditing. By logging transactions before they are committed to the main data store, systems can maintain consistency and durability even in the event of crashes or errors.
Developers should learn about transaction logs when working with databases, distributed systems, or applications requiring reliable data persistence, as they are essential for implementing ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties. Use cases include database recovery after a crash, setting up replication for high availability, and auditing changes for compliance or debugging purposes. Understanding transaction logs helps in designing robust systems that can handle failures without data loss.