General Database Basics

Core Concepts Every Tester Should Know

• Database: an organized collection of structured data.
• Table: a collection of related rows and columns within a database.
• Query: a request to retrieve or manipulate data.
• Transaction: a sequence of operations treated as a single unit of work, either fully applied or fully rolled back.
• ACID Properties: Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability—the guarantees that make database transactions reliable.

Why This Foundation Matters

Testers who understand these basics can write meaningful SQL queries to verify application behavior directly against the data, rather than relying solely on the UI.