Chapter 10. Using Transactions to Provide Safe Database Concurrency

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Define Transactions in SQL Server

• Handle errors during transactions

• Choose the right transaction isolation level

• Monitor and prevent blocking and deadlock problems

• Manage transactions using ADO.NET

In the previous two chapters, you learned how to connect to remote data sources. Of particular concern to applications that involve distributed clients is the question of preventing one user from overwriting another user's input. As an application designer, you also need to make sure that a set of related changes aren't interrupted so that they end up only partially complete. These problems are so important for database applications in general that we've devoted an entire chapter to how SQL Server solves them. In this chapter, we'll explain how wrapping changes to data in a transaction both prevents users from stepping on each other's toes and allows application designers to ensure the integrity of the data.