Why do we use PostgreSQL mainly?

 What is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system that uses and extends the SQL language and many capabilities that allow it to reliably store and grow even the most complex data workloads. PostgreSQL was created in 1986 as part of the POSTGRES project at the University of California in Berkeley, and the core platform has been actively developed for more than 30 years. It is the World’s most advanced open-source relational database. 

PostgreSQL latest versions:

PostgreSQL’s latest versions were released on 10th February 2022. Released by PostgreSQL Global Development Group.

The latest versions are:

• 14.2, 13.6, 12.10, 11.15, and 10.20 for Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD, and Solaris.

PostgreSQL Source code:

The source code may be accessed in the main file browser, or you can go to git.postgresql.org to view the source control repository directly. The manual contains instructions for constructing from the source. According to DB-engines, it is the fourth most used database nowadays.

History of PostgreSQL:

PostgreSQL initially called Postgres it is created by a computer science professor Michael Stonebraker and his team. Today it has become one of the popular open-source databases.

PostgreSQL was released on 1997-01-29 and the first version is 6.0.

Why do we use PostgreSQL?

• PostgreSQL has several features designed at assisting developers in the development of applications, administrators in the protection of data integrity and the creation of fault-tolerant settings, and you in the management of your data, regardless of the size of the dataset. PostgreSQL is very expandable, in addition to being free and open source. 
• It supports a large part of the SQL standard and offers many modern features:

1. Complex queries
2. Triggers
3. Foreign keys
4. Updatable views
5. Transactional integrity
6. Multiversion concurrency control

• PostgreSQL provides for storing different network address types.
•  It is an object-relational database, arrays of values can be stored for most exiting datatypes. 
• We can define our data types, build out custom functions, and even write code from different programming languages without recompiling your database.
• It supports both SQL for relational and JSON for non-relational queries.

What is Database?

The database is a structured collection of data that has been organized to make it easily accessible, accessible, and up to date. A database, in simple terms, is a location where data is kept. The library is the finest analogy. The library has a large collection of books of many genres; in this case, the library is a database, and the books are the data.

Data types in PostgreSQL:

• Primitives: Integer, Numeric, String, Boolean 
• Structured: Date/Time, Array, Range/Multirange, UUID
•  Document: JSON/JSONB, XML, Key-value (Hstore)
• Geometry: Point, Line, Circle, Polygon
•  Customizations: Composite, Custom Types 

Advantages of PostgreSQL:

• Open-Source DBMS

It is an open-source DBMS with no end of development possibilities. It has a wide range of community users who can directly participate in the community and post and share inconveniences, ideas, and bugs. 

• Community

One of the advantages of PostgreSQL is there is a wide range of variety of communities. Users themselves can develop modules and propose the module to the community. The development possibility is superiorly high with collecting opinions from its global community organized with all kinds of people.

• ACID and Transaction

 It supports ACID. ACID full form Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability).

• Flexible full-text search

Full-text search is available when searching for strings with the execution of vector operation and string search

•  Diversified extension functions

PostgreSQL supports different kinds of techniques for geographic data storage such as PostGIS, Key-Value Store, and DBLink.

•  Diverse kinds of replication

PostgreSQL supports a variety of replication methods such as Streaming Replication, Slony-I, and cascading.

•  Security Features

Both databases support user and group management and grant SQL privileges to roles. PostgreSQL supports IP-based client filtering and authentication using PAM.

•   Unparalleled Performance
•  Strong third-party support

Disadvantages of PostgreSQL:

There are not many disadvantages of PostgreSQL.

• Database Structure

The database in PostgreSQL is typical of a relational database.

• Slower performance

There are various performance issues and backup recovery challenges that people face with PostgreSQL. It performs slower especially when there is a large number of data stored in the rows and columns of a table containing many fields of additional information to compare.

Which companies use PostgreSQL:

• Apple
• IMDB
• Instagram
• Reddit
• Skype
• Spotify
• Twitch
• International Space Station (NASA)

The best alternative for PostgreSQL:

• MySQL
• Oracle
• MongoDB
• Cassandra
• IBM Bd2
• SAP HANA
• RDS
• SQLite
• MariaDB
• Elasticsearch

Top 14 Database to use in 2021:

 

Conclusion:

 PostgreSQL is really helpful for developers. Being an open-source platform it has many communities working actively to provide support to its users. In addition to that, it is free and highly extensible so that you can define your data types or build custom functions or even write different codes without compromising your database. These are some reasons we use PostgreSQL.

Jayakumar Pannela |Associate Software Engineer