What is optimistic locking in microservices?

What is optimistic locking in microservices?

Optimistic locking is a concurrency control method used in microservices to manage data consistency. It allows multiple transactions to occur without locking the data, assuming that conflicts are rare.

How does optimistic locking differ from pessimistic locking?

Unlike pessimistic locking, which locks data for the duration of a transaction, optimistic locking allows transactions to proceed without locks, checking for conflicts only at the time of committing.

Can you give an example of how optimistic locking is implemented?

Sure! In a typical implementation, each record has a version number. When a service updates a record, it checks if the version number matches the one it read. If it does, the update proceeds; if not, it means another transaction has modified the record.

What are the advantages of using optimistic locking?

The main advantages include improved performance in high-concurrency environments and reduced chances of deadlocks, as it minimizes the time data is locked.