**Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)** is a form of data storage and processing where a large number of micro, concurrent transactions are executed and stored. OLTP is used in storing financial transactions, #key# ATMs :Automated Teller Machines #key#, e-commerce, messaging, and flight records. Examples of OLTP systems include:
* PostgreSQL
* MySQL
* MongoDB
* Neo4j

**Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)**, on the other hand, is a form of data storage and processing that stores historical data to be used for analysis. OLAP focuses on querying records stored in data storage locations like Data Warehouses and Data Lakes. These records often originate from OLTP systems. OLAP systems are used for preparing financial reports, forecasting, etc. Examples of OLAP systems include: 
* Snowflake
* Essbase
* Google Big Query

Below is a tabular comparison of OLTP and OLAP.

Tabular comparison between OLTP and OLAP

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What is the difference between OLTP and OLAP?

OLTP handles concurrent microtransactions for real-time tasks; OLAP analyzes historical data for reporting and forecasting.

Basis	OLTP	OLAP
Focus	An insertion focused system	A query focused system
Nature of workload	Processes a large number of small records	Processes a few big queries
Normalization	OLTP data is normalized to reduce repetition	OLAP systems don't normalize data to improve query performance and reduce query time
Query time	Queries in OLTP systems are usually simple and take less time to execute	Queries in OLAP systems are more involved because OLAP systems are focused on querying. These queries also take longer to execute
Transaction integrity	Transactions may fail, in which case, it is the responsibility of the OLTP system to ensure data integrity and consistency	Transactions in OLAP systems may fail without causing issues since they are mainly read-only queries