Skip site navigation (1) Skip section navigation (2)

Peripheral Links

Text Size: Normal / Large
Donate
Contact

Header And Logo

The world's most advanced open source database.

Site Navigation

Section Navigation

PostgreSQL: Introduction and Concepts

by Bruce Momjian

PostgreSQL is complicated enough.
You don't need complicated prose to understand it.

Welcome

PostgreSQL: Introduction and Concepts (ISBN 0-201-70331-9) is a book about the open-source database PostgreSQL. It was written by Bruce Momjian and published by Addison-Wesley. It has sold thousands of copies since its release in December of 2000. The book has been translated into German and Japanese. Here is an article reflecting on the book one year after publication.

Corrections

First Printing
Date	Page	Location	Correction
2000/10/27	37	table 4.6	add ^ to '^D.e.f'
2000/11/02	108	table 9.1	change bool to boolean
2000/11/10	xxiii	bottom	add first name for Jolly Chen
2000/11/18	25	footnote 2	fix spelling of the word quote

First, Second, and Third Printings
Date	Page	Location	Correction
2001/08/01	113	table 9.3	translate() maps character classes, not strings
2001/08/01	113	table 9.3	trim(BOTH ...) doesn't use comma
2003/01/27	201	figure 17.12	Client Number should be State Code

Update for PostgreSQL 7.1
Page	Section	Change
43	4.14	additional SET variables, new postgresql.conf file
91	8.2	new subqueries in FROM clause
101	8.3	OUTER joins now supported using ANSI join syntax
108	9.2	new BIT and BIT VARYINGdata types
108	9.2	unlimited CHAR()/VARCHAR() length
143	13.2	newALTER TABLE tablename OWNER TO user
143	13.2	newALTER TABLE tablename ADD CONSTRAINT
145	13.4	inheritance now the default, new ONLY keyword
223	20.1	file names now created using oid, not table name
227	20.5	pg_dump improved, new pg_restore command
230	20.8	write-ahead log makes -F less important

Update for PostgreSQL 7.2
Page	Section	Change
133	11.4	new VACUUM FULL command, VACUUM now nonlocking
79	7.1	OIDs are now optional
226	20.4	new md5 encryption option in pg_hba.conf
226	20.4	new unix domain socket authentication for some OS's
229	20.7	new table statistics collector
230	20.9	pg_log is now pg_clog
85	7.6	new SERIAL8data type
108	9.2	bytea now usable for binary data storage
110	9.2	new TIMESTAMP WITHOUT TIMEZONE data type

Update for PostgreSQL 7.3
Page	Section	Change
227	20.4	additional user column in pg_hba.conf
110	9.2	TIMESTAMP and TIME now defaults to WITHOUT TIMEZONE
229	20.7	new pg_locks lock display table
26	4.4	new DEFAULT useable in INSERT
169	15.*	new preferred COPY options syntax
230	20.8	new clusterdb command
108	9.2	new DOMAIN capability
187	17.*	many interfaces moved to http://gborg.postgresql.org

Content

The book can be viewed in your web browser. (The PDF version is no longer available.) A copy of the SQL commands in the book is available for download.

New Chapters

Additional chapters to appear in the next edition:

PostgreSQL Performance Tuning (PDF) (Japanese) (Japanese PDF)
Writing PostgreSQL Applications (PDF) (Japanese) (Japanese PDF)

History

This book has been greatly enhanced with help from the PostgreSQL user community. I have received hundreds of suggestions that I have incorporated. Many thanks to them.

This book was written using LyX. LyX uses LaTeX to generate Postscript, and ghostscript generates PDF. Addison-Wesley used my PDF file to generate film to print the book.

LyX is a powerful word processor. It has many options, like auto-numbered sections, lists, and floating figures. It lets you tag text, and appropriate font size and spacing are automatically generated when printed. I have some tips regarding the use of LyX.

Search