Concurrency control in database systems: A step towards the integration of optimistic methods and locking

Abstract

The traditional approach to concurrency control is based on locking. Recently, new methods have been presented called optimistic methods. These methods are well suited in situations where the likelihood of conflicting actions is rather small. Otherwise locking should be used. Typically in database systems it is not known in advance what kind of transactions are to be processed. Therefore what is really needed are methods which combine the benefits of optimistic methods and locking. This paper is a first step in this direction.