What this book covers

Chapter 1, PostgreSQL Overview, provides an overview of PostgreSQL and its features. You will learn new stuff and the new functionalities available in PostgreSQL.

Chapter 2, Understanding Transactions and Locking, covers one of the most important aspects of any database system: proper database work is usually not possible without the existence of transactions. Understanding transactions and locking is vital to performance, as well as professional work.

Chapter 3, Making Use of Indexes, covers everything you need to know about indexes. Indexes are key to performance and are therefore an important cornerstone if you want a good user experience and high throughput. All the important aspects of indexing will be covered.

Chapter 4, Handling Advanced SQL, introduces you to some of the most important concepts of modern SQL. You will learn about windowing functions as well as other important current elements of SQL.

Chapter 5, Log Files and System Statistics, guides you through administrative tasks such as log file management and monitoring. You will learn how to inspect your servers and extract runtime information from PostgreSQL.

Chapter 6, Optimizing Queries for Good Performance, tells you everything you need to know about good PostgreSQL performance. The chapter covers SQL tuning as well as information about memory management.

Chapter 7, Writing Stored Procedures, teaches you some of the advanced topics related to server-side code. The most important server-side programming languages are covered and important aspects are pointed out.

Chapter 8, Managing PostgreSQL Security, is designed to help you improve the security of your server. The chapter features everything from user management to Row-Level Security (RLS). Information about encryption is also included.

Chapter 9, Handling Backup and Recovery, is all about backups and data recovery. You will learn to back up your data , which will enable you to restore things in the event of a disaster.

Chapter 10, Making Sense of Backups and Replication, is all about redundancy. You will learn to asynchronously and synchronously replicate PostgreSQL database systems. All modern features are covered as extensively as possible.

Chapter 11, Deciding on Useful Extensions, describes widely used modules that add more functionality to PostgreSQL. You will learn about the most common extensions.

Chapter 12, Troubleshooting PostgreSQL, offers a systematic approach to fixing problems in PostgreSQL. It will enable you to spot common problems and approach them in an organized way.

Chapter 13, Migrating to PostgreSQL, is the final chapter of this book and shows you how to migrate from commercial databases to PostgreSQL. The chapter covers the most important databases migrated these days.