Chapter 2. Server Programming Environments

You've had a chance to get acquainted with the general idea of using PostgreSQL, but now we are going to answer the question of why anyone will choose PostgreSQL as a development platform. As much as I'd like to believe that it's an easy decision for everyone, it's not.

For starters, let's get rid of the optimistic idea that you choose a database platform for technical reasons. Sure, we all like to think that we are objective, and we base our decisions on a preponderance of the technical evidence. This preponderance of evidence then indicates which features are available and relevant to our application. We will then proceed to make a weighted choice in favor of the most advantageous platform, and use a balance of the evidences to create workarounds and alternatives where our choice falls short. The fact is that we don't really understand all the requirements of the application until we are halfway through...