RollbackHandling

RollbackHandling is the process of undoing changes when an operation or transaction cannot complete, preserving data integrity and system stability. It is a core concern in databases, transactional systems, and deployment workflows.

In database systems, rollback is achieved through transactions that support commit and rollback operations. Databases maintain logs that record changes so that they can be undone if a rollback is issued, or redone if needed after recovery. In distributed systems, rollback may require coordinated mechanisms such as two-phase commit or saga patterns with compensating actions.

Techniques include explicit error handling that triggers rollback, automatic rollback on uncaught exceptions, and savepoints to allow partial rollback to a defined point. Nested transactions and partial rollbacks depend on the capabilities of the underlying system.

In non-database contexts, rollback handling can involve compensating transactions, outbox patterns, or feature flags that enable reverting effects of a deployment or message processing.

Key considerations include performance impact, durability guarantees, failure modes, and testing coverage. Rollback mechanisms should be predictable, idempotent where possible, and well-logged to aid recovery and auditing.

Related concepts include ACID properties, transaction logs, savepoints, compensating transactions, and idempotence.