Re: 7.4 Press Release -- Draft #3

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003, Sean Chittenden wrote:

> > The PostgreSQL Global Development Group is pleased to announce the
> > availability of version 7.4 of the PostgreSQL relational database
> > management system (RDBMS).
>
> Case -> Relational Database Management System (RDBMS).
>
> > This significant release
>
> This major release
>
> > represents the work of our world wide network of over 100 developers
> > and contributors over the last 9 months, building on the
> > unparalleled success of our 7.3 release in November
> > 2002.
>
> nix "our 7.3 release in November 2002" and replace with just,
> "PostgreSQL 7.3". The date for when 7.3 was released isn't needed
> since we've just given the reader a rough time line with the amount of
> time between releases (9 months).
>
> > Significant advances in the new version include:
> >
> > - A complete redesign of error logging and reporting, providing
> > developers with an SQL99 compliant mechanism for debugging and
> > troubleshooting, while at the same time providing users real
> > time suggestions on how to avoid error conditions in their
> > applications.
> >
> > - A redesign of subquery handling with the IN() clause resulting
> > in considerable speed improvements.
>
> Might be worth while mentioning something like the following to go
> with the above point:
>
> Other additional planner improvements have brought PostgreSQL's
> performance inline with the large RDBMS vendors.

Hmm. Pretty general statement.

>
> > - The implementation of SQL99 compliant Information Schema,
> > providing developers with database, type, object, and
> > configuration information in a standards compliant way.
> >
> > - Statement level triggers, enabling developers and users to define
> > and customized behavior of the database when data is stored and
> > manipulated.
> >
> > - Read only transactions, which bring a greater level of
> > security to web and enterprise applications by protecting data
> > from modification.
>
> How about "Explicit JOINs no longer constrain query plan, unless
> JOIN_COLLAPSE_LIMIT = 1"? This is kind of a big deal for MS SQL
> users/organizations.. Targeting their audience would be good and
> increase our user uptake from their dept.
>
> When enabled, the planner can now automatically optimize the
> join order of queries: a feature found in a few commercial
> RDBMS's that can reduce the time busy DBAs need to spend
> optimizing queries.
>

Good point, I'll try to work into a user friendly format.

> > Other improvements include:
> > - Performance improvements for data warehousing
>
> Does this mean the NUMERIC handling?

I have the enhanced array support and GROUP BY improvements.

>
> > - Enhanced implementation of functional indexes
> > - Addition of polymorphic function arguments and return types
> > - Significant enhancements to array data types
> > - Completely overhauled and simplified documentation
> > - An auto-vacuum feature to help simplify database maintenance
>
> Update multi-byte regexp package is a big deal for intl users.

Good point.

>
> If it gets mentioned, 24/7 installations are going to really push for
> upgrading to this release because of the index growth problem that was
> quenched in this version. Something like:
>
> Infinite index growth can now be prevented with frequent VACUUMs
>
> Mentioning the protocol change is also probably important here.
>
> New wire protocol (version 3) increases the speed of data transfers.
>
> I haven't benchmarked it, but from what I've read of the protocol
> spec, it likely does. Tom might want to confirm this. More efficient
> BYTEA transfers is a big deal for the medical community that's storing
> MRIs in PostgreSQL.

Might be a bit specific for a media release. Remember, we're also doing a
detailed user-focussed announcement.

>
> Mentioning support for AMD's Opteron would also be a good bit to have
> since that says, "we're a safe database to base your business around
> because we move with the times and support cutting edge hardware, even
> though the project has been around forever."

Excellent point.

Gavin