Why Are Locks Important in MySQL?
- Maintain Data Integrity
Locks prevent simultaneous conflicting operations (like two users updating the same record at the same time), which ensures that the data stored remains accurate and reliable. - Prevent Lost Updates
Without locks, two transactions could read the same data, make different changes, and overwrite each other’s results. Locks ensure that updates are preserved in the correct order. - Avoid Dirty Reads
Dirty reads happen when one transaction reads uncommitted data from another transaction. Locks avoid this by preventing access to data that hasn’t been finalized with a COMMIT. - Control Read and Write Access
Locks can be used to allow read-only access (shared lock) or full access (exclusive lock), giving you precise control over how data is accessed and modified. - Enable Safe Concurrent Execution
Proper locking lets many operations run at the same time without causing errors or slowdowns, which is critical in high-traffic databases.