What this book covers

Chapter 1, Installing PostgreSQL, provides an overview of the process to install PostgreSQL from source. The chapter covers the prerequisites to compile from source, and the process to initialize a cluster in Unix/Linux environment. It also covers the directory structure.

Chapter 2, Server Architecture, covers the important processes started when we start a PostgreSQL cluster and how they work along with the memory structures to provide the functionality expected from a database management system.

Chapter 3, PostgreSQL – Object Hierarchy and Roles, explains various object types and objects provided by PostgreSQL. Important concepts such as databases, clusters, tablespaces, and schemas are covered in this chapter.

Chapter 4, Working with Transactions, covers ACID properties of transactions, isolation levels, and how PostgreSQL provides them. Multiversion concurrency control is another topic dealt with in this chapter.

Chapter 5, Data Modeling with SQL Power Architect, talks about how we can model tables and relationships with SQL Power Architect. Some of the aspects that should be considered when we choose a design tool are also covered in this chapter.

Chapter 6, Client Tools, covers two clients tools (pgAdmin: a UI tool and psql: a command-line tool). Browsing database objects, generating queries, and generating the execution plan for queries using pgAdmin are covered. Setting up the environment variables for connecting from psql, viewing history of SQL commands executed, and meta-commands are also covered in this chapter.

Chapter 7, SQL Tuning, explains query optimization techniques. To set the context, some patterns about database use and theory on how the PostgreSQL optimizer works are covered.

Chapter 8, Server Tuning, covers PostgreSQL server settings that have significant impact on query performance. These include memory settings, cost settings, and so on. Two object types: partitions and materialized views are also covered in this chapter.

Chapter 9, Tools to Move Data in and out of PostgreSQL, covers common tools/utilities, such as pg_dump, pg_bulkload, and copy used to move data in and out of PostgreSQL.

Chapter 10, Scaling, Replication, and Backup and Recovery, covers methods that are usually used for achievability. A step-by-step method to achieve horizontal scalability using PostgreSQL's streaming replication and pgpool-II is also presented. Point-in-time recovery for PostgreSQL is also covered in this chapter.

Chapter 11, PostgreSQL – Troubleshooting, explains a few of the most common problems developers run into when they start off with PostgreSQL and how to troubleshoot them. Connection issues, privilege issues, and parameter setting issues are also covered.

Chapter 12, PostgreSQL – Extras, covers quite a few topics. Some interesting data types that every data architect should be aware of, a couple of really useful extensions, and a tool to analyze PostgreSQL log files are covered. It also covers a few interesting features available in PostgreSQL 9.4.