COMMIT and ROLLBACK in MySQL: Transaction Control

COMMIT makes your changes permanent; ROLLBACK undoes them. Together with SAVEPOINT, they give you an undo button for data changes — invaluable when updating production tables.

Key Points

• MySQL runs in autocommit mode by default — each statement commits instantly
• START TRANSACTION suspends autocommit until you COMMIT or ROLLBACK
• ROLLBACK undoes everything since the transaction began
• SAVEPOINT sp1 marks a checkpoint; ROLLBACK TO sp1 undoes partially
• DDL statements (CREATE, ALTER, TRUNCATE) auto-commit — they can't be rolled back
• Safe-update ritual: BEGIN → UPDATE → verify with SELECT → COMMIT