What is the term for a situation where two or more transactions are waiting for another transaction to release a lock on a data item?

The term for a situation where two or more transactions are waiting for another transaction to release a lock on a data item is known as a deadlock. This condition arises in a multi-transaction environment when transactions hold locks on certain resources while simultaneously trying to acquire locks on other resources that are held by other transactions. As a result, none of the transactions can proceed because each one is waiting for the other to release a lock. Deadlocks need to be detected and resolved to ensure that the system can continue processing transactions effectively.

In contrast, a race condition refers to a scenario where the outcome of operations depends on the sequence or timing of uncontrollable events. This doesn’t specifically involve waiting for locks. A data lock describes the mechanism of locking itself rather than the situation of contention among transactions. Transaction conflict generally refers to issues arising when multiple transactions interfere with one another, but it does not specifically denote the waiting aspect inherent in deadlocks.