WAL
Abbreviation with 3 meanings
| Stands for | Wales |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 3 |
| Categories | Geography & Places, Technology & Computing, Business & Finance |
WAL has three meanings. The most common are Wales (country code) and Write-ahead logging (data & database); it can also stand for Weighted average life.
Meanings of WAL at a glance
| # | WAL stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales | Geography & Places › Country Code |
| 2 | Write-ahead logging | Technology & Computing › Data & Database |
| 3 | Weighted average life | Business & Finance › Bond & Fixed-Income |
1. Wales
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
FIFA code for Wales, which reached the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, its first since 1958. Wales also competes separately in rugby, where it is a Six Nations power.
Example: WAL drew 1–1 with the USA in their World Cup opener.
Gareth Bale is Wales's record goal scorer. ISO 3166-2 uses GB-WLS for Wales.
2. Write-ahead logging
Technology & Computing · Data & Database Abbreviations
A durability technique in which a database records every change in an append-only log on disk before applying it to the data files, so committed transactions can be recovered after a crash. PostgreSQL, SQLite and many other systems use it.
Example: Replicas stream the primary's WAL, so they lag only a fraction of a second behind.
Writing sequentially to a log is faster than updating scattered data pages, so WAL improves performance as well as safety. The log also enables point-in-time recovery and replication. SQLite's optional WAL mode, added in 2010, lets readers and a writer work at the same time.
3. Weighted average life
Business & Finance · Bond & Fixed-Income Abbreviations
Average time until each dollar of a security's principal is repaid, weighted by the amount repaid at each date. It is used for amortizing securities such as MBS, ABS and loans, whose principal comes back gradually rather than all at maturity.
Example: The ABS tranche has a WAL of 2.8 years even though its final maturity is 2034.
WAL depends on prepayment assumptions, so it changes as interest rates move. US money market fund rules cap a fund portfolio's WAL at 120 days. WAL differs from duration, which measures price sensitivity rather than timing.
Related abbreviations
More country code abbreviations
- VE – Venezuela
- VG – British Virgin Islands
- VN – Vietnam
- VU – Vanuatu
- WF – Wallis and Futuna
- WS – Samoa
- XK – Kosovo
- YE – Yemen
See all 270 country code abbreviations →