Sams PostgreSQL the comprehensive guide to buildin 001

PostgreSQL:Thecomprehensiveguidetobuilding,
programming,andadministeringPostgreSQL
databases,SecondEdition
ByKorryDouglas,SusanDouglas
...............................................
Publisher:SamsPublishing
PubDate:July26,2005
ISBN:0-672-32756-2
Pages:1032

TableofContents|Index

Thesecondeditionofthebest-sellingPostgreSQLhasbeenupdatedtocompletelycover
newfeaturesandcapabilitiesofthe8.0versionofPostgreSQL.Youwillbeleadthrough
theinternalsofthepowerfulPostgreSQLopensourcedatabasechapter,offeringaneasyto-read,code-basedapproachthatmakesiteasytounderstandhoweachfeatureis
implemented,howtobestuseeachfeature,andhowtogetmoreperformancefrom
databaseapplications.Thisdefinitiveguidetobuilding,programmingandadministering
thepowerfulPostgreSQLopen-sourcedatabasesystemwillhelpyouharnessoneofthe
mostwidelyusedopensource,enterprise-leveldatabasesystems.


PostgreSQL:Thecomprehensiveguidetobuilding,
programming,andadministeringPostgreSQL
databases,SecondEdition
ByKorryDouglas,SusanDouglas
...............................................
Publisher:SamsPublishing
PubDate:July26,2005
ISBN:0-672-32756-2
Pages:1032

TableofContents|Index

Copyright
TheRealValueinFreeSoftware
AbouttheAuthors
Acknowledgments
WeWanttoHearfromYou!
ReaderServices
Introduction
PostgreSQLFeatures
WhatVersionsDoesThisBookCover?
WhatTopicsDoesThisBookCover?
What'sNewintheSecondEdition?
PartI:GeneralPostgreSQLUse
Chapter1.IntroductiontoPostgreSQLandSQL
ASampleDatabase
BasicDatabaseTerminology
Prerequisites
ConnectingtoaDatabase
CreatingTables

ViewingTableDescriptions
AddingNewRecordstoaTable
InstallingtheSampleDatabase
RetrievingDatafromtheSampleDatabase
TheCASEExpression

Aggregates
Multi-TableJoins
UPDATE

DELETE
A(Very)ShortIntroductiontoTransactionProcessing
CreatingNewTablesUsingCREATETABLE...AS
UsingVIEW
Summary
Chapter2.WorkingwithDatainPostgreSQL
NULLValues
CharacterValues
NumericValues
Date/TimeValues
Boolean(Logical)Values
GeometricDataTypes
ObjectIDs(OID)
BLOBs
NetworkAddressDataTypes
Sequences
Arrays
ColumnConstraints
ExpressionEvaluationandTypeConversion
CreatingYourOwnDataTypes
Summary
Chapter3.PostgreSQLSQLSyntaxandUse
PostgreSQLNamingRules
Creating,Destroying,andViewingDatabases
CreatingNewTables
AddingIndexestoaTable
GettingInformationAboutDatabasesandTables
TransactionProcessing
Summary
Chapter4.Performance

HowPostgreSQLOrganizesData
GatheringPerformanceInformation
UnderstandingHowPostgreSQLExecutesaQuery
ExecutionPlansGeneratedbythePlanner
TheARCBufferManager
TableStatistics

PerformanceTips
PartII:ProgrammingwithPostgreSQL
Chapter5.IntroductiontoPostgreSQLProgramming
Server-SideProgramming

Client-SideAPIs
GeneralStructureofClientApplications
ChoosinganApplicationEnvironment
Summary
Chapter6.ExtendingPostgreSQL
ExtendingthePostgreSQLServerwithCustomFunctions
ReturningMultipleValuesfromanExtensionFunction
ThePostgreSQLSRFInterface
ReturningCompleteRowsfromanExtensionFunction
ExtendingthePostgreSQLServerwithCustomDataTypes
InternalandExternalForms
DefiningaSimpleDataTypeinPostgreSQL
DefiningtheDataTypeinC
DefiningtheInputandOutputFunctionsinC
DefiningtheInputandOutputFunctionsinPostgreSQL
DefiningtheDataTypeinPostgreSQL
IndexingCustomDataTypes
Summary
Chapter7.PL/pgSQL
InstallingPL/pgSQL
LanguageStructure
FunctionBody
Cursors
Triggers
PolymorphicFunctions
PL/pgSQLandSecurity
Summary
Chapter8.ThePostgreSQLCAPIlibpq
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer

Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3SimpleProcessingPQexec()andPQprint()
Client4AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
Summary
Chapter9.ASimplerCAPIlibpgeasy

Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3ProcessingQueries

Client4AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
Summary
Chapter10.TheNewPostgreSQLC++APIlibpqxx
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3ProcessingQueries
Client4Workingwithtransactors
Summary
Chapter11.EmbeddingSQLCommandsinCProgramsecpg
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3ProcessingSQLCommands
Client4AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
Summary
Chapter12.UsingPostgreSQLfromanODBCClientApplication
ODBCArchitectureOverview
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3ProcessingQueries
Client4AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
Summary
Resources
Chapter13.UsingPostgreSQLfromaJavaClientApplication
JDBCArchitectureOverview
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking

Client3ProcessingQueries
Client4AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
Summary
Chapter14.UsingPostgreSQLwithPerl
DBIArchitectureOverview

Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3ProcessingQueries
Client4AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
Summary

Chapter15.UsingPostgreSQLwithPHP
PHPArchitectureOverview
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3QueryProcessing
Client4AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
OtherFeatures
Summary
Chapter16.UsingPostgreSQLwithTclandTcl/Tk
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2QueryProcessing
Client3AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
ThelibpgtclLarge-ObjectAPI
Summary
Chapter17.UsingPostgreSQLwithPython
Python/PostgreSQLInterfaceArchitecture
Prerequisites
Client1ConnectingtotheServer
Client2AddingErrorChecking
Client3QueryProcessing
Client4AnInteractiveCommandProcessor
Summary
Chapter18.Npgsql:The.NETDataProvider
Prerequisites
PreparingVisualStudio
UnderstandingtheADO.NETClassHierarchy
CreatinganNpgsql-enabledVBProject
Client1ConnectingtotheServer

Client2AnInteractiveQueryProcessor
Client3UpdatingtheDatabasewithaDataSet




Client4AMoreRobustQueryProcessor



Client5UsingaTypedDataSet

Summary
Chapter19.OtherUsefulProgrammingTools
PL/JavaWritingStoredProceduresinJava
pgcurlWeb-enablingYourPostgreSQLServer
pgbashWritingPostgreSQL-enabledShellScripts

PartIII:PostgreSQLAdministration
Chapter20.IntroductiontoPostgreSQLAdministration
Security
UserAccounts
BackupandRestore
ServerStartupandShutdown
RunningPostgreSQLonaWindowsHost
Tuning
InstallingUpdates
Localization
Summary
Chapter21.PostgreSQLAdministration
Roadmap(Where'sAllMyStuff?)
InstallingPostgreSQL
ManagingDatabases
ThePostgreSQLBGWRITERprocess
ManagingUserAccounts
ConfiguringYourPostgreSQLRuntimeEnvironment
ArrangingforPostgreSQLStartupandShutdown
BackingUpandCopyingDatabases
Point-in-timeRecovery
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter22.InternationalizationandLocalization
LocaleSupport
Multi-ByteCharacterSets
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter23.Security
SecuringthePostgreSQLDataFiles

SecuringNetworkAccess




SecuringTables




SecuringFunctions
Summary

Chapter24.ReplicatingPostgreSQLDatawithSlony
Overview
Requirements
CreatingaReplicationCluster
StartingtheReplicationDaemons
CreatingaReplicationSet
SubscribingtoaReplicationSet
ChangingtheClusterTopology(Re-masteringandFailover)
Summary
Chapter25.ContributedModules
ExchangingPostgreSQLDatawithXML
UsingFull-textSearch
Index


Copyright
Copyright©2006bySamsPublishing
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookshallbereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,

withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher.Nopatent
liabilityisassumedwithrespecttotheuseoftheinformation
containedherein.Althougheveryprecautionhasbeentakenin
thepreparationofthisbook,thepublisherandauthorassume
noresponsibilityforerrorsoromissions.Norisanyliability
assumedfordamagesresultingfromtheuseoftheinformation
containedherein.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2004097929
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
FirstPrinting:July2005
080706054321

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trademarksorservicemarkshavebeenappropriately
capitalized.SamsPublishingcannotattesttotheaccuracyof
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TheRealValueinFreeSoftware
Thesedays,itseemsthatmostdiscussionofopen-source
softwarecentersaroundtheideathatyoushouldnothaveto
tieyourfuturetothewhimofsomegiantcorporation.People
saythatopen-sourcesoftwareisbetterthanproprietary
softwarebecauseitisdevelopedandmaintainedbytheusers
insteadofafacelesscompanyouttolightenyourwallet.
Ithinkthattherealvalueinfreesoftwareiseducation.Ihave
neverlearnedanythingbyreadingmyowncode[1].Ontheother
hand,it'sarareoccasionwhenI'velookedatcodewrittenby
someoneelseandhaven'tcomeawaywithanothertoolinmy
toolkit.Peopledon'tthinkalike.Idon'tmeanthatpeople
disagreewitheachother;Imeanthatpeoplesolveproblemsin
differentways.Eachpersonbringsauniquesetofexperiences
tothetable.Eachpersonhashisownsetofgoalsandbiases.
Eachpersonhashisowninterests.Allofthesethingswillshape
thewayyouthinkaboutaproblem.Often,I'llfindmyselfina
heateddisagreementwithacolleagueonlytorealizethatwe
areeachcorrectinourapproach.JustbecauseI'mright,
doesn'tmeanthatmycolleaguecan'tberightaswell.

[1]MaybeIshouldsaythatIhaveneverlearnedanythingnewbyreadingmyowncode.I'vecertainlylookedat
codethatI'vewrittenandwonderedwhatIwasthinkingatthetime,learningthatI'mnotnearlyascleverasI
hadremembered.Oddlyenough,thosewhohavereadmycodehavereachedasimilarconclusion.

Open-sourcesoftwareisagreatwaytolearn.Youcanlearn
aboutprogramming.Youcanlearnaboutdesign.Youcanlearn
aboutdebugging.Sometimes,you'lllearnhownottodesign,
code,ordebug;butthat'savaluablelesson,too.Youcanlearn
smallthings,likehowtocachefiledescriptorsonsystems
wherefiledescriptorsareascarceandexpensiveresource,or
howtousetheselect()functiontoimplementfine-grained
timers.Youcanlearnbigthings,likehowaqueryoptimizer
worksorhowtowriteaparser,orhowtodevelopagood


memory-managementstrategy.
PostgreSQLisagreatexample.I'vebeenusingdatabasesfor
thelasttwodecades.I'veusedmostofthemajorcommercial
databases:Oracle,Sybase,DB2,andMSSQLServer.Witheach
commercialdatabase,thereisawallofknowledgebetweenmy
needsandthevendor'sneedtoprotecthisintellectualproperty.
UntilIstartedexploringopen-sourcedatabases,Ihadan
incompleteunderstandingofhowadatabaseworks.Whywas
thisparticularfeatureimplementedthatway?WhyamIgetting
poorperformancewhenItrythis?That'saneatfeature;I
wonderhowtheydidthat?Everycommercialdatabasetriesto
exposeasmallpieceofitsinnerworkings.Theexplain
statementwillshowyouwhythedatabasemakesits
optimizationdecisions.But,youonlygettoseewhatthevendor
wantsyoutosee.Thevendorisn'ttryingtohidethingsfrom

you(inmostcases),butwithoutcompleteaccesstothesource
code,theyhavetopickandchoosehowtoexposeinformation
inameaningfulway.Withopen-sourcesoftware,youcandive
deepintothesourcecodeandpulloutalltheinformationyou
need.Whilewritingthisbook,I'vespentalotoftimereading
throughthePostgreSQLsourcecode.I'veaddedalotofmy
owncodetorevealmoreinformationsothatIcouldexplain
thingsmoreclearly.Ican'tdothatwithacommercialdatabase.
Therearegemsofbrillianceinmostopen-sourceprojects.Ina
well-designed,well-factoredproject,youwillfinddesignsand
codethatyoucanuseinyourownprojects.Manyopen-source
projectsarestartingtosplittheircodeintoreusablelibraries.
TheApachePortableRuntimeisagoodexample.TheApache
Webserverrunsonmanydiverseplatforms.TheApache
developmentteamsawtheneedforalayerofabstractionthat
wouldprovideaportableinterfacetosystemfunctionssuchas
sharedmemoryandnetworkaccess.Theydecidedtofactorthe
portabilitylayerintoalibraryseparatefromtheirmainproject.
TheresultistheApachePortableRuntimealibraryofcodethat
canbeusedinotheropen-sourceprojects(suchas


PostgreSQL).
Somedevelopershatetoworkonsomeoneelse'scode.Ilove
workingoncodewrittenbyanotherdeveloperIalwayslearn
somethingfromtheexperience.Istronglyencourageyouto
diveintothePostgreSQLsourcecode.Youwilllearnfromit.You
mightevendecidetocontributetotheproject.
KorryDouglas

AbouttheAuthors
KorryDouglasisthedirectorofresearchanddevelopmentfor
AppxSoftware.Overthelasttwodecades,hehasworkedon
thedesignandimplementationofanumberofhigh-level,highproductivitylanguagesanddevelopmentenvironments.His
productsinterfacewithmanyrelational(andnon-relational)
databases.Workingwithsomanydifferentdatabaseproducts
(Oracle,Sybase,SQLServer,DB2,PostgreSQL,MySQL,MSQL)
hasgivenhimabroadunderstandingofthecommonalitiesof,
anddifferencesbetween,databases.
SusanDouglasisthepresidentandCEOofConjectrix,Inc.,a
softwarecompanyspecializingindatabasetechnologiesand
securitytools.Consultingtotheend-usercommunityhasgiven
herwidespreaddatabaseexperienceandarealappreciationfor
high-qualityprogramsandflexibletoolspowerfulenoughto
handledatawellandintuitiveenoughtoactuallyuse.
Korryandhiswife(andbestfriend)Susanraisehorsesinrural
Virginia.BotharenativesofthePacificNorthwest,butprefer
thesunshineandopenspacesofferedbyVirginia.Theyboth
telecommute,preferringtospendasmuchtimeaspossiblewith
their200orsoanimalfriends(whonevercomplainaboutbuggy
code,inelegantdesign,orpoorperformance).Susanisanavid
equestrienne;Korrygetstocleanthebarn.


Acknowledgments
ThankyoutoourtechnicalreviewerVinceVielhaber.We
appreciatehismanyhoursspentporingovermanuscripts
exposingtechnicalinaccuracies.Hisknowledgeandexpertise
havebeeninvaluable.We'dalsoliketothankPeterEisentraut

andBarryStinsonforreviewingthefirsteditionofthisbookand
PaulDuBois(ofMySQLfame)forhisguidancewhilewe
struggledforclarityinthefirstedition.
WewouldespeciallyliketothankthedevelopersofPostgreSQL
fortheyearsofdevelopmentspentproducinganexcellent
database.Withouttheirdevotiontotheproject,itwouldn'thave
evolvedintothemasterpieceweallknowtoday.
Mostofthebooksthatwereadarededicatedtovarious
householdmembersforthelonghoursdevotedtotheirwriting
projectratherthantofamilylife.Instead,wehaveenjoyedthe
longhoursofR&Dspenttogether,interspersedwithscreaming
(duringbreaks,ontherollercoastersatKing'sDominionnotat
eachother).


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Asthereaderofthisbook,youareourmostimportantcritic
andcommentator.Wevalueyouropinionandwanttoknow
whatwe'redoingright,whatwecoulddobetter,whatareas
you'dliketoseeuspublishin,andanyotherwordsofwisdom
you'rewillingtopassourway.
Youcanemailorwritemedirectlytoletmeknowwhatyoudid
ordidn'tlikeaboutthisbookaswellaswhatwecandotomake
ourbooksstronger.
PleasenotethatIcannothelpyouwithtechnicalproblems
relatedtothetopicofthisbook,andthatduetothehigh
volumeofmailIreceive,Imightnotbeabletoreplytoevery
message.
Whenyouwrite,pleasebesuretoincludethisbook'stitleand
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Introduction
PostgreSQLisarelationaldatabasewithalonghistory.Inthe
late1970s,theUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeleybegan
developmentofPostgreSQL'sancestorarelationaldatabase
knownasIngres.RelationalTechnologiesturnedIngresintoa
commercialproduct.RelationalTechnologiesbecameIngres
CorporationandwaslateracquiredbyComputerAssociates.

Around1986,MichaelStonebrakerfromUCBerkeleyledateam
thataddedobject-orientedfeaturestothecoreofIngres;the
newversionbecameknownasPostgres.Postgreswasagain
commercialized;thistimebyacompanynamedIllustra,which
becamepartoftheInformixCorporation.AndrewYuandJolly
ChenaddedSQLsupporttoPostgresinthemid-'90s.Prior
versionshadusedadifferent,Postgres-specificquerylanguage
knownasPostquel.In1996,manynewfeatureswereadded,
includingtheMVCCtransactionmodel,moreadherencetothe
SQL92standard,andmanyperformanceimprovements.
Postgresonceagaintookonanewname:PostgreSQL.
Today,PostgreSQLisdevelopedbyaninternationalgroupof
open-sourcesoftwareproponentsknownasthePostgreSQL
GlobalDevelopmentgroup.PostgreSQLisanopen-source
productitisnotproprietaryinanyway.RedHathasrecently
commercializedPostgreSQL,creatingtheRedHatDatabase,but
PostgreSQLitselfwillremainfreeandopensource.


PostgreSQLFeatures
PostgreSQLhasbenefitedwellfromitslonghistory.Today,
PostgreSQLisoneofthemostadvanceddatabaseservers
available.Hereareafewofthefeaturesfoundinastandard
PostgreSQLdistribution:
Object-relationalInPostgreSQL,everytabledefinesaclass.
PostgreSQLimplementsinheritancebetweentables(or,if
youlike,betweenclasses).Functionsandoperatorsare
polymorphic.
StandardscompliantPostgreSQLsyntaximplementsmost
oftheSQL92standardandmanyfeaturesofSQL99.Where

differencesinsyntaxoccur,theyaremostoftenrelatedto
featuresuniquetoPostgreSQL.
OpensourceAninternationalteamofdevelopersmaintains
PostgreSQL.Teammemberscomeandgo,butthecore
membershavebeenenhancingPostgreSQL'sperformance
andfeaturesetsinceatleast1996.Oneadvantageto
PostgreSQL'sopen-sourcenatureisthattalentand
knowledgecanberecruitedasneeded.Thefactthatthis
teamisinternationalensuresthatPostgreSQLisaproduct
thatcanbeusedproductivelyinanynaturallanguage,not
justEnglish.
TransactionprocessingPostgreSQLprotectsdataand
coordinatesmultipleconcurrentusersthroughfull
transactionprocessing.Thetransactionmodelusedby
PostgreSQLisbasedonmulti-versionconcurrencycontrol
(MVCC).MVCCprovidesmuchbetterperformancethanyou
wouldfindwithotherproductsthatcoordinatemultiple
usersthroughtable-,page-,orrow-levellocking.


ReferentialintegrityPostgreSQLimplementscomplete
referentialintegritybysupportingforeignandprimarykey
relationshipsaswellastriggers.Businessrulescanbe
expressedwithinthedatabaseratherthanrelyingonan
externaltool.
MultipleprocedurallanguagesTriggersandother
procedurescanbewritteninanyofseveralprocedural
languages.Server-sidecodeismostcommonlywrittenin
PL/pgSQL,aprocedurallanguagesimilartoOracle's
PL/SQL.Youcanalsodevelopserver-sidecodeinTcl,Perl,

evenbash(theopen-sourceLinux/Unixshell).
Multiple-clientAPIsPostgreSQLsupportsthedevelopment
ofclientapplicationsinmanylanguages.Thisbook
describeshowtointerfacetoPostgreSQLfromC,C++,
ODBC,Perl,PHP,Tcl/Tk,andPython.
UniquedatatypesPostgreSQLprovidesavarietyofdata
types.Besidestheusualnumeric,string,anddatatypes,
youwillalsofindgeometrictypes,aBooleandatatype,and
datatypesdesignedspecificallytodealwithnetwork
addresses.
ExtensibilityOneofthemostimportantfeaturesof
PostgreSQListhatitcanbeextended.Ifyoudon'tfind
somethingthatyouneed,youcanusuallyaddityourself.
Forexample,youcanaddnewdatatypes,newfunctions
andoperators,andevennewproceduralandclient
languages.Therearemanycontributedpackagesavailable
ontheInternet.Forexample,RefractionsResearch,Inc.
hasdevelopedasetofgeographicdatatypesthatcanbe
usedtoefficientlymodelspatial(GIS)data.


WhatVersionsDoesThisBookCover?
Thefirsteditionofthisbookcoveredversions7.1through7.3.
Inthisedition,we'veupdatedthebasicsandaddedcoverage
forthenewfeaturesintroducedinversions7.4and8.0.
Throughoutthebook,I'llbesuretoletyouknowwhichfeatures
workonlyinnewreleases,and,inafewcases,I'llexplain
featuresthathavebeendeprecated(thatis,featuresthatare
obsolete).Youcanusethisbooktoinstall,configure,tune,
program,andmanagePostgreSQLversions7.1through8.0.

Fortunately,thePostgreSQLdeveloperstryveryhardto
maintainforwardcompatibilitynewfeaturestendnottobreak
existingapplications.Thismeansthatallthefeaturesdiscussed
inthisbookshouldstillbeavailableandsubstantiallysimilarin
laterversionsofPostgreSQL.Ihavetriedtoavoidtalkingabout
featuresthathavenotbeenreleasedatthetimeof
writingwhereIhavementionedfuturedevelopments,Iwillpoint
themout.

WhoIsThisBookFor?
IfyouarealreadyusingPostgreSQL,youshouldfindthisbooka
usefulguidetosomeofthefeaturesthatyoumightbeless
familiarwith.Thefirstpartofthebookprovidesanintroduction
toSQLandPostgreSQLforthenewuser.You'llalsofind
informationthatshowshowtoobtainandinstallPostgreSQLon
aUnix/Linuxhost,aswellasonMicrosoftWindows.
Ifyouaredevelopinganapplicationthatwillstoredatain
PostgreSQL,thesecondpartofthisbookwillprovideyouwitha
greatdealofinformationrelatingtoPostgreSQLprogramming.
You'llfindinformationonbothserver-sideandclient-side
programminginavarietyoflanguages.


Everydatabaseneedsoccasionaladministrativework.Thefinal
partofthebookshouldbeofhelpifyouareaPostgreSQL
administrator,oradeveloperoruserthatneedstodo
occasionaladministration.Youwillalsofindinformationonhow
tosecureyourdataagainstinappropriateuse.
Finally,ifyouaretryingtodecidewhichdatabasetousefor
yourcurrentproject(orforfutureprojects),thisbookshould

providealltheinformationyouneedtoevaluatewhether
PostgreSQLwillfityourneeds.


WhatTopicsDoesThisBookCover?
PostgreSQLisahugeproduct.It'snoteasytofindtherightmix
oftopicswhenyouaretryingtofiteverythingintoasingle
book.Thisbookisdividedintothreeparts.
Thefirstpart,"GeneralPostgreSQLUse,"isanintroductionand
user'sguideforPostgreSQL.Chapter1,"Introductionto
PostgreSQLandSQL,"coversthebasicshowtoobtainand
installPostgreSQL(ifyouarerunningLinux,chancesareyou
alreadyhavePostgreSQLanditmaybeinstalled).Thefirst
chapteralsoprovidesagentleintroductiontoSQLand
discussesthesampledatabasewe'llbeusingthroughoutthe
book.Chapter2,"WorkingwithDatainPostgreSQL,"describes
themanydatatypessupportedbyastandardPostgreSQL
distribution;you'lllearnhowtoentervalues(literals)foreach
datatype,whatkindofdatayoucanstorewitheachtype,and
howthosedatatypesarecombinedintoexpressions.Chapter
3,"PostgreSQLSQLSyntaxandUse,"fillsinsomeofthedetails
weglossedoverinthefirsttwochapters.You'lllearnhowto
createnewdatabases,newtablesandindexes,andhow
PostgreSQLkeepsyourdatasafethroughtheuseof
transactions.Chapter4,"Performance,"describesthe
PostgreSQLoptimizer.I'llshowyouhowtogetinformation
aboutthedecisionsmadebytheoptimizer,howtodecipherthat
information,andhowtoinfluencethosedecisions.
PartII,"ProgrammingwithPostgreSQL,"isallaboutPostgreSQL
programming.InChapter5,"IntroductiontoPostgreSQL

Programming,"westartoffbydescribingtheoptionsyouhave
whendevelopingadatabaseapplicationthatworkswith
PostgreSQL(andtherearealotofoptions).Chapter6,
"ExtendingPostgreSQL,"brieflydescribeshowtoextend
PostgreSQLbyaddingnewfunctions,datatypes,andoperators.
Chapter7,"PL/pgSQL,"describesthePL/pgSQLlanguage.
PL/pgSQLisaserver-basedprocedurallanguage.Codethatyou


writeinPL/pgSQLexecuteswithinthePostgreSQLserverand
hasveryfastaccesstodata.Eachchapterintheremainderof
theprogrammingsectiondealswithaclient-basedAPI.Youcan
connecttoaPostgreSQLserverusinganumberoflanguages.I
showyouhowtointerfacetoPostgreSQLusingC,C++,ecpg,
ODBC,JDBC,Perl,PHP,Tcl/Tk,Python,andMicrosoft's.NET.
Chapters8through18allfollowthesamepattern:youdevelop
aseriesofclientapplicationsinagivenlanguage.Thefirst
clientapplicationshowsyouhowtoestablishaconnectionto
thedatabase(andhowthatconnectionisrepresentedbythe
languageinquestion).Thenextclientaddserrorcheckingso
thatyoucaninterceptandreacttounusualconditions.The
thirdclientineachchapterdemonstrateshowtoprocessSQL
commandsfromwithintheclient.Thefinalclientwraps
everythingtogetherandshowsyouhowtobuildaninteractive
queryprocessorusingthelanguagebeingdiscussed.Evenif
youprograminonlyoneortwolanguages,Iwouldencourage
youtostudytheotherchaptersinthissection.Ithinkyou'llfind
thatlookingatthesameapplicationwritteninavarietyof
languageswillhelpyouunderstandthephilosophyfollowedby
thePostgreSQLdevelopmentteam,andit'sagreatwaytostart

learninganewlanguage.Chapter19,"OtherUseful
ProgrammingTools,"introducesyoutoafewprogrammingtools
(andinterfaces)thatyoumightfinduseful:PL/JavaandPL/Perl.
I'llalsoshowyouhowtousePostgreSQLinsideofbashshell
scripts.
Thefinalpartofthisbook(PartIII,"PostgreSQL
Administration")dealswithadministrativeissues.Thefinalsix
chaptersofthisbookshowyouhowtoperformtheoccasional
dutiesrequiredofaPostgreSQLadministrator.Inthefirsttwo
chapters,Chapter20,"IntroductiontoPostgreSQL
Administration,"andChapter21,"PostgreSQLAdministration,"
you'lllearnhowtostartup,shutdown,backup,andrestorea
server.InChapter22,"InternationalizationandLocalization,"
youwilllearnhowPostgreSQLsupportsinternationalizationand
localization.PostgreSQLunderstandshowtostoreandprocess