idempotency

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablecomputingmathematics

   The property of an operation that produces the same result when applied more than once.

   Grammar: Uncountable; often used after 'the' or in phrases like 'the idempotency of'.

   Patterns

   • the idempotency of an operation
   • ensure idempotency

   The idempotency of the function means that calling it twice is the same as calling it once.

   In mathematics, idempotency is a key property of certain operations.

   The team tested the idempotency of the API to avoid duplicate charges.

2. 2noununcountablecomputing

   In computing, the quality of a request that can be repeated safely without changing the result.

   Grammar: Uncountable; often used with 'ensure' or 'guarantee': ensure idempotency.

   Patterns

   • ensure idempotency
   • guarantee idempotency
   • idempotency key

   Payment systems need idempotency so that a retry does not charge the customer twice.

   The developer added an idempotency key to each request.

   Without idempotency, network errors can cause duplicate orders.

Common combinations

ensure idempotency

We must ensure idempotency before deploying the new service.

idempotency key

The client sends an idempotency key with every request.

the idempotency of an operation

The idempotency of the operation makes it safe to retry.

guarantee idempotency

The protocol does not guarantee idempotency for all methods.

Synonyms and how they differ

repeatability

Repeatability means you can do something again; idempotency is stronger because the result stays exactly the same.

Word family

idempotent adjective

Having the property that repeating an operation gives the same result.

Commonly confused: idempotency or impotency?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “idempotency”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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