Just Use Postgres!

Autorentext

Denis Magda is a database engineer and former Java platform lead known for making complex data systems approachable. With two decades of building and scaling infrastructure at Sun, Oracle, and multiple startups, Denis brings practical clarity and code-first teaching to every page. He distills his Postgres expertise into concise guidance that gets developers shipping faster and smarter. 

Klappentext

You probably don’t need a collection of specialty databases. Just use Postgres instead!

Written for application developers and database pros, Just Use Postgres! shows you how to get the most out of the powerful Postgres database.

In Just Use Postgres! you’ll learn how to:

• Use Postgres as an RDBMS for transactional workloads
• Develop generative AI, geospatial, and time-series applications
• Take advantage of modern SQL including window functions and CTEs
• Perform full-text search and process JSON documents
• Use Postgres as a message queue
• Optimize performance with various index types including B-trees, GIN, GiST, HNSW, and moreOver the decades, PostgreSQL, aka Postgres, has grown into the most powerful general-purpose database and has become the de facto standard for developers worldwide. Just Use Postgres! takes a modern look at Postgres, exploring the database’s most up-to-date features for AI, time-series, full-text search, geospatial, and other application workloads.

Foreword by Josh Long. Afterword by Vlad Mihalcea.

About the technology

You know that PostgreSQL is a fast, reliable, SQL compliant RDBMS. You may not know that it’s also great for geospatial systems, time series, full-text search, JSON documents, AI vector embeddings, and many other specialty database functions. For almost any data task you can imagine, you can use Postgres.

About the book

Just Use Postgres! covers recipes for using Postgres in dozens of applications normally reserved for single-purpose databases. Written for busy application developers, each chapter explores a different use case illuminating the breadth and depth of Postgres’s capabilities. Along the way, you’ll also meet an incredible ecosystem of Postgres extensions like pgvector, PostGIS, pgmq, and TimescaleDB. You’ll be amazed at everything you can accomplish with Postgres!

What's inside

• Generative AI, geospatial, and time-series applications
• Modern SQL including window functions and CTEs
• Full-text search and JSON
• B-trees, GIN, GiST, HNSW, and moreAbout the reader

For application developers, software engineers, and architects who know the basics of SQL.

About the author

Denis Magda is a recognized Postgres expert and software engineer who worked on Java at Sun Microsystems and Oracle before focusing on databases and large-scale distributed systems.

Table of Contents

Part 1
1 Meeting Postgres
2 Standard RDBMS capabilities
3 Modern SQL
4 Indexes
Part 2
5 Postgres and JSON
6 Postgres for full-text search
Part 3
7 Postgres extensions
8 Postgres for generative AI
9 Postgres for time series
10 Postgres for geospatial data
11 Postgres as a message queue
Appendixes
A Five optimization tips
B When not to use Postgres

Zusammenfassung

Juggling multiple databases slows every project and drains precious developer mental bandwidth. Imagine serving analytics, AI, and search from the same Postgres engine. Modern Postgres already solves these challenges, you only need the roadmap. Skip encyclopedic references, jump straight into working code and clear patterns. Build streaming, geospatial, and time series features faster than ever before. Stop overthinking your stack, just use Postgres and ship with confidence. 

• Use-case chapters (eCommerce, streaming, IoT): Translate abstract concepts into relatable, production tested patterns. 

• Modern SQL techniques (CTEs, window functions, JSON): Write concise queries, reduce application code complexity. 

• Extension deep-dives (PostGIS, pgvector, timescaledb): Add AI, geospatial, and time-series power without extra infrastructure. 

• Performance primers (indexes, partitioning, tuning): Keep latency low and throughput high for demanding workloads. 

• Ready-to-run code snippets and Docker files: Accelerate learning, eliminate environment setup roadblocks. 
  Just Use Postgres! by veteran engineer Denis Magda is a concise, example-driven book that shows working developers exactly how to unlock Postgres for modern, multifaceted applications. 

Each chapter tackles a real product scenario, from shopping carts to music streams and IoT sensors. Magda guides you through schema choices, index strategies, and powerhouse extensions using clear diagrams and runnable code. 

Finish the book ready to build AI-enhanced, searchable, analytics-ready services on a single Postgres instance. Save licensing costs, simplify deployments, and slash maintenance by consolidating diverse workloads into one robust database. 

Perfect for developers who know basic SQL and now need production-grade scalability, search, and AI capabilities. 

Inhalt

PART 1. POSTGRES AS RELATIONAL DATABASE 

1 MEETING POSTGRES 

2 STANDARD RDBMS CAPABILITIES 

3 MODERN SQL 

4 INDEXES 

PART 2. CORE POSTGRES BEYOND RELATIONAL 

5 POSTGRES AND JSON 

6 POSTGRES FOR FULL-TEXT SEARCH 

PART 3. EXTENSIONS AND BROADER ECOSYSTEM 

7 POSTGRES EXTENSIONS 

8 POSTGRES FOR GENERATIVE AI 

9 POSTGRES FOR TIME SERIES 

10 POSTGRES FOR GEOSPATIAL 

11 POSTGRES AS MESSAGE QUEUE 

APPENDIX 

APPENDIX A: FIVE OPTIMIZATION TIPS 

APPENDIX B: WHEN NOT TO USE POSTGRES