"As changes are made to a production data source, change data capture reads the source database log. This information can be used to prepare a batch to update the data warehouse, or it can update the data warehouse on a transaction-by-transaction basis. With SQL Server 7.0, transactional replication is an example of change data capture." (Microsoft Corporation, "Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Data Warehouse Training Kit", 2000)
"The process of capturing changes made to a production data source. Change data capture is typically performed by reading the log file of the Database Management System of the source database. Change data capture consolidates units of work, ensures data is synchronized with the original source, and reduces data volume in a Data Warehousing environment." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)
"The process of capturing changes made to a production data source; typically used in data warehousing environments." (Craig S Mullins, "Database Administration", 2012)
"Change data capture (CDC) is a set of software design patterns used to determine (and track) the data that has changed so that action can be taken using the changed data. CDC often uses the database transaction log to populate the deltas, although it can also query the database directly." (Piethein Strengholt, "Data Management at Scale", 2020)
"CDC is the process of capturing changes that were made in the source systems and applying these changes throughout the enterprise for both decision support systems such as information warehouse and operational data stores as well as other downstream consuming applications." (Saumya Chaki, "Enterprise Information Management in Practice", 2015)
"An automated approach for ensuring that data changes are synchronized across an enterprise by replicating data changes from a source system to other systems." (Jonathan Ferrar et al, "The Power of People", 2017)
