Preface
The purpose of this book is to teach you the fundamental practices and techniques of database developers for programming database applications with PostgreSQL. It is targeted to database developers using PostgreSQL who have basic experience developing database applications with the system, but want a deeper understanding of how to implement programmatic functions with PostgreSQL.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Advanced SQL, aims to help you understand advanced SQL topics such as views, materialized views, and cursors and will be able to get a sound understanding of complex topics such as subqueries and joins.
Chapter 2, Data Manipulation, provides you the ability to perform data type conversions and perform JSON and XML operations in PostgreSQL.
Chapter 3, Triggers, explains how to perform trigger operations and use trigger functions in PostgreSQL.
Chapter 4, Understanding Database Design Concepts, explains data modeling and normalization concepts. The reader will then be able to efficiently create a robust database design.
Chapter 5, Transactions and Locking, covers the effect of transactions and locking on the database.The reader will also be able to understand isolation levels and understand multi-version concurrency control behavior.
Chapter 6, Indexes And Constraints, provides knowledge about the different indexes and constraints available in PostgreSQL. This knowledge will help the reader while coding and the reader will be in a better position to choose among the different indexes and constraints depending upon the requirement during the coding phase.
Chapter 7, Table Partitioning, gives the reader a better understanding of partitioning in PostgreSQL. The reader will be able to use the different partitioning methods available in PostgreSQL and also implement horizontal partitioning using PL/Proxy.
Chapter 8, Query Tuning and Optimization, provides knowledge about different mechanisms and approaches available to tune a query. The reader will be able to utilize this knowledge in order to write a optimal/efficient query or code.
Chapter 9, PostgreSQL Extensions and Large Object Support, will familiarize the reader with the concept of extensions in PostgreSQL and also with the usage of large objects' datatypes in PostgreSQL.
Chapter 10, Using PHP in PostgreSQL, covers the basics of performing database operations in PostgreSQL using the PHP language, which helps reader to start with PHP code.
Chapter 11, Using Java in PostgreSQL, this chapter provides knowledge about database connectivity using Java and creating/modifying objects using Java code. It also talks about JDBC drivers.
What you need for this book
You need PostgreSQL 9.4 or higher to be installed on your machine to test the codes provided in the book. As this covers Java and PHP, you need Java and PHP binaries installed on your machine. All other tools covered in this book have installation procedures included, so there's no need to install them before you start reading the book.
Who this book is for
This book is mainly for PostgreSQL developers who want to develop applications using programming languages. It is also useful for tuning databases through query optimization, indexing, and partitioning.
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Database views are created using the CREATE VIEW statement. "
A block of code is set as follows:
import java.sql.Connection; import java.sql.DriverManager; import java.sql.Statement; import java.sql.ResultSet; import java.sql.SQLException;
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
CREATE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column1, column2 FROM table_name WHERE [condition];
New terms and important words are shown in bold.
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tip
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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