PostgreSQL: Up and Running

Preface

PostgreSQL is an open source relational database management system that began as a University of California, Berkeley project. It was originally under the BSD license, but is now called the PostgreSQL License (TPL). For all intents and purposes, it’s BSD licensed. It has a long history, almost dating back to the beginning of relational databases.

It has enterprise class features such as SQL windowing functions, the ability to create aggregate functions and also utilize them in window constructs, common table and recursive common table expressions, and streaming replication. These features are rarely found in other open source database platforms, but commonly found in newer versions of the proprietary databases such as Oracle, SQL Server, and IBM DB2. What sets it apart from other databases, including the proprietary ones we just mentioned, is the ease with which you can extend it without changing the underlying base—and in many cases, without any code compilation. Not only does it have advanced features, but it performs them quickly. It can outperform many other databases, including proprietary ones for many types of database workloads.

In this book, we’ll expose you to the advanced ANSI-SQL features that PostgreSQL offers. and the unique features PostgreSQL has that you won’t find in other databases. If you’re an existing PostgreSQL user or have some familiarity with PostgreSQL, we hope to show you some gems you may have missed along the way; or features found in newer ...