readitem

Readitem is a term used in software development to describe an operation that retrieves a single item from a data source or container. The concept appears across domains such as databases, file formats, data streams, and in-memory collections. Although not tied to a single standard, readitem is commonly implemented as a function or method named readItem, getItem, or similar, designed to return one element identified by a key, index, or descriptor.

In databases, readItem typically accepts a primary key or identifier and returns the corresponding row, or signals that no matching row exists. In in-memory collections, readItem might take an index or key to fetch a particular element. In data streams or queues, readItem fetches the next available item, often without advancing a cursor by more than one item.

Return behavior varies by API: some implementations raise an exception when the item is not found; others return a null value or an optional type to indicate absence. Concurrency and consistency considerations may apply, such as guaranteeing that readItem reflects a stable snapshot or that it locks the item during retrieval.

Relation to other terms: readItem is related to getItem, fetch, and read for single-item retrieval; it differs from operations that read multiple items, such as readAll or readMany. The exact semantics of readItem depend on the language or library in use, so consulting the specific API documentation is recommended.

See also: getItem, read, fetch, __getitem__.