How do I implement optimistic locking in my application?

How do I implement optimistic locking in my application?

Optimistic locking is a concurrency control method that assumes multiple transactions can complete without affecting each other. To implement it, you typically add a version number or timestamp to your data records.

Can you give me an example of how to do this in a database?

Sure! In a SQL database, you can add a 'version' column to your table. When updating a record, check if the version matches the one you retrieved. If it does, proceed with the update and increment the version; if not, it means another transaction has modified it.

What happens if two users try to update the same record at the same time?

If two users attempt to update the same record simultaneously, the first update will succeed, and the second will fail due to a version mismatch. You can then handle this failure by notifying the user or retrying the operation.

Are there any downsides to using optimistic locking?

Yes, optimistic locking can lead to increased conflicts in high-transaction environments, which may require more retries and can affect performance.