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Commit (data management)
open-in-new
<p>In <a href="/facts/Computer_science/lN3pEyPz">computer science</a> and <a href="/facts/Data_management/Cykeqxc7">data management</a>, a commit is the making of a set of tentative changes permanent, marking the end of a <a href="/facts/Database_transaction/q1Etrsl8">transaction</a> and providing <i>Durability</i> as in <a href="/facts/ACID_transactions/XdHkYzHN"> Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (ACID)</a> transactions. A <i>commit</i> is an act of committing. The record of commits is called the commit log. </p><p>In terms of transactions, the opposite of commit is to discard the tentative changes of a transaction, a <a href="/facts/Rollback_(data_management)/HNtToVYw">rollback</a>. </p><p>The transaction, commit and rollback concepts are key to the <a href="/facts/ACID/XdHkYzHN">ACID</a> property of databases. </p><p>A <a href="/facts/COMMIT_(SQL)/8825ljRk">COMMIT</a> statement in <a href="/facts/SQL/UjQLJcYm">SQL</a> ends a <a href="/facts/Database_transaction/q1Etrsl8">transaction</a> within a <a href="/facts/Relational_database_management_system/pEKGmJLy">relational database management system</a> (RDBMS) and makes all changes visible to other users. The general format is to issue a <a href="/facts/Begin_work_(SQL)/q1Etrsl8">BEGIN WORK</a> (or BEGIN TRANSACTION, depending on the database vendor) statement, one or more SQL statements, and then the COMMIT statement. Alternatively, a <a href="/facts/Rollback_(data_management)/HNtToVYw">ROLLBACK</a> statement can be issued, which undoes all the work performed since BEGIN WORK was issued. A COMMIT statement will also release any existing <a href="/facts/Savepoint/w9pVBH62">savepoints</a> that may be in use. </p>