Event sourcing
Storing every state change as an immutable event log rather than just the current state. Example: instead of storing "deal status = Won", store every status transition Created → Qualified → Proposal → Won. Enables full auditability and temporal queries.
Expert insight
Event sourcing (storing every state change as an immutable event rather than overwriting a record) makes it possible to reconstruct exactly how a record reached its current state, valuable for debugging and audit, but it adds real complexity: every reader of that data needs to know how to replay events into current state, not just read a single row.
In a real workflow
Every change to an order is stored as an event, so its full history can be rebuilt.
Common mistakes
- Using event sourcing for simple CRUD needs.
- No snapshots for long histories.
Complexity level
Technical term used in production automation systems.
Related terms
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