From the Preface

PostgreSQL bills itself as the world’s most advanced open source database. We couldn’t agree more.

What we hope to accomplish in this book is to give you a firm grounding in the concepts and features that make PostgreSQL so impressive. Along the way, we should convince you that PostgreSQL does indeed stand up to its claim to fame. Because the database is advanced, no book short of the 3500 pages of documentation can bring out all its glory. But then again, most users don’t need to delve into the most abstruse features that PostgreSQL has to offer. So in our shorter 300-pager, we hope to get you, as the subtitle proclaims, Up and Running.

Each topic is presented with some context so you understand when to use it and what it offers. We assume you have prior experience with some other database so that we can jump right to the key points of PostgreSQL. We generously litter the pages of this book with links to references so you can dig deeper into topics of interest. These links lead to sections in the manual, to helpful articles, to blog posts of PostgreSQL vanguards. We also link to our own site at Postgres OnLine Journal, where we have collected many pieces that we have written on PostgreSQL and its interoperability with other applications.

This book focuses on PostgreSQL versions 9.5, 9.6, and 10, but we will cover some unique and advanced features that are also present in prior versions.

Audience

For migrants from other database engines, we’ll point out parallels that PostgreSQL shares with other leading products. Perhaps more importantly, we highlight feats you can achieve with PostgreSQL that are difficult or impossible to do in other databases.

We stop short of teaching you SQL, as you’ll find many excellent sources for that. SQL is much like chess—a few hours to learn, a lifetime to master. You have wisely chosen PostgreSQL. You’ll be greatly rewarded.

If you’re currently a savvy PostgreSQL user or a weather-beaten DBA, much of the material in this book should be familiar terrain, but you’ll be sure to pick up some pointers and shortcuts introduced in newer versions of PostgreSQL. Perhaps you’ll even find the hidden gem that eluded you. If nothing else, this book is at least ten times lighter than the PostgreSQL manual.

Not using PostgreSQL yet? This book is propaganda—the good kind. Each day you continue to use a database with limited SQL capabilities, you handicap yourself. Each day that you’re wedded to a proprietary system, you’re bleeding dollars.

Finally, if your work has nothing to do with databases or IT, or if you’ve just graduated from kindergarten, the cute picture of the elephant shrew on the cover should be worthy of the price alone.