This collection offers the reader a broad survey of the role of transaction processing in advanced computer applications. It contains an introduction to traditional transaction technology, and comprehensive descriptions of commercial systems and research projects. This volume will help anyone interested in keeping up with database applications and the potential for transaction processing systems to address the needs of OLTP, CAD, CASE, computer aided publishing, heterogeneous databases, active databases, communications, systems and other areas. For researchers, managers, software developers, professionals in the data processing fields, or anyone interested in a coherent overview of this new and fast growing area of computer science.

Author Biography

Ahmed Elmagarmid is Professor of Computer Sciences at Purdue University. He is the editor-in-chief of Distributed and Parallel Databases: An International Journal, editor of Information Sciences, and editor of the Advances in Database Systems series. Elmagarmid's research interests focus on consistency aspects of distributed databases; heterogeneous, federated, and multidatabases; and transaction management for advanced database applications, distance learning, and video databases. He has active projects in mobile databases, video databases, and datawebs and is a founding member of the Purdue Online effort.