The latest version world’s most advanced open source database was released today!  PostgreSQL 15 is now available.  Quoting the press release:

PostgreSQL 15 builds on the performance improvements of recent releases with noticeable gains for managing workloads in both local and distributed deployments, including improved sorting. This release improves the developer experience with the addition of the popular MERGEcommand, and adds more capabilities for observing the state of the database.

“The PostgreSQL developer community continues to build features that simplify running high performance data workloads while improving the developer experience,” said Jonathan Katz, a PostgreSQL Core Team member. “PostgreSQL 15 highlights how, through open software development, we can deliver to our users a database that is great for application development and safe for their critical data.”

The big changes are:

• The SQL MERGE command
• A lot of under the hood work on performance, especially in sort and window functions
• Some previously single-threaded queries are now parallelizable (e.g., SELECT DISTINCT)
• Support for compression in WALs

The World’s Most Advanced?

Whenever I’m asked about MySQL/MariaDB vs. Pg, I go back to history.  Early on Pg took the approach of “doing everything the right way,” whereas MySQL took the approach of “make it fast” (for example, early on MySQL didn’t even support foreign keys).  Over the last 25 or whatever years, MySQL has implemented the rest of the SQL standard, and Pg has gotten faster, so they’re approach the same target.

MySQL also benefits from having “ecosystem support”.  Many people today chose MariaDB over the Oracle-owned MySQL, but when Oracle puts code into MySQL it gets into MariaDB, and Oracle is spending money, promoting, etc. so the whole ecosystem benefits.

However, Pg is a better database 😁

Really, choice depends on what you’re doing.  For example, if you’re building off some FOSS project where 80% of the people on the project use MySQL, I’d use MySQL because you’re going to be the one finding the bugs if you aren’t in the middle of the herd.  But if I was doing a greenfield project in 2022, I’d pick Pg.

If you asked me for the best RDBMS system on the planet, I’d say Oracle, followed by SQL Server and DB/2.  Those platforms are developed by tech giants with practically unlimited resources.  However, they also come with nearly unlimited price tags.

There are still many things Oracle can do that Pg can’t.  However, 80% of users won’t need those features.  It might even be a higher percentage and it gets higher every year.

I see more and more people talking about Pg in projects and it seems to be gaining every year in popularity.  If you haven’t tried it out, why not dive in with Pg 15!

Which RDBMS platform do you choose?  How soon before you try Pg 15?  Let us known in the comments below!

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raindog308

Dread Lord of LowEnd Content at LowEndBox

I'm raindog308, techno polymath and long-time LowEndTalk community Administrator. My technical interests include all things Unix, perl, python, golang, shell scripting, vintage operating systems such as MVS, and relational database systems such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.

I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308

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