NYCPHP Meetup

[Tim Gales]

David Mintz writes:
" Still having trouble understanding how to avoid the 
  Lost Update Problem"

This link will not immediately answer the 
question you're asking.

It is from an outline for a course in 
operating system structures :
http://www.bridgeport.edu/sed/projects/cs503/Spring_2001/kode/os/sync.htm

I would suggest you compare 'locks' with 'semaphores' there.

Many operating system mechanisms are quite re-usable in applications.

I would like to know where you read:
"I've read that you should either lock tables or use transactions"

I think there are times when you want to lock down a table in part 
of a transaction -- i.e. do both.

When you start locking stuff down in transactions, it is beneficial to 
have some mechanism in place to avoid 'race' conditions.
(see the above link for ideas on that)

Hope this helps.

T. Gales & Associates
'Helping People Connect with Technology'

http://www.tgaconnect.com