Book Image

Learning PostgreSQL 11 - Third Edition

By : Salahaldin Juba, Andrey Volkov
Book Image

Learning PostgreSQL 11 - Third Edition

By: Salahaldin Juba, Andrey Volkov

Overview of this book

PostgreSQL is one of the most popular open source database management systems in the world, and it supports advanced features included in SQL standards. This book will familiarize you with the latest features in PostgreSQL 11, and get you up and running with building efficient PostgreSQL database solutions from scratch. Learning PostgreSQL, 11 begins by covering the concepts of relational databases and their core principles. You’ll explore the Data Definition Language (DDL) and commonly used DDL commands supported by ANSI SQL. You’ll also learn how to create tables, define integrity constraints, build indexes, and set up views and other schema objects. As you advance, you’ll come to understand Data Manipulation Language (DML) and server-side programming capabilities using PL/pgSQL, giving you a robust background to develop, tune, test, and troubleshoot your database application. The book will guide you in exploring NoSQL capabilities and connecting to your database to manipulate data objects. You’ll get to grips with using data warehousing in analytical solutions and reports, and scaling the database for high availability and performance. By the end of this book, you’ll have gained a thorough understanding of PostgreSQL 11 and developed the necessary skills to build efficient database solutions.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)

Dynamic SQL

Dynamic SQL is used to build and execute queries on the fly. Unlike a static SQL statement, a dynamic SQL statement's full text is unknown and can change between successive executions. These queries can be DDL, DCL, and DML statements. Dynamic SQL is used to reduce repetitive tasks. For example, you could use dynamic SQL to create table partitioning for a certain table on a daily basis, to add missing indexes to all foreign keys or to add data auditing capabilities to a certain table, without major coding effects. Another important use of dynamic SQL is to overcome the side effects of PL/pgSQL caching, as queries executed using the EXECUTE statement are not cached.

Dynamic SQL is achieved via the EXECUTE statement. The EXECUTE statement accepts a string, and simply evaluates it. The synopsis to execute a statement is as follows:

EXECUTE command-string [ INTO ...