The PostgreSQL World Growth Group introduced the discharge of PostgreSQL 17, the latest model of the open supply database.
Based on the group’s announcement, PostgreSQL 17 has improved efficiency and scalability whereas adapting to new information entry and storage patterns required by cloud native computing and the rise of AI.
Among the many key new options is enhanced assist for JSON, which was one of many causes customers started adopting the database. On this launch, the implementation of the SQL/JSON normal is generally full, in response to Tom Kincaid, SVP of Database Server Growth at EDB, a serious contributor to the venture. “I believe one of many issues individuals ask for probably the most is the implementation of JSON_TABLE, which lets you take a JSON doc and make a view of it as a relational desk… it actually speaks to the extensibility of Postgres, but in addition the continued evolution in direction of making it simpler to undertake.”
PostgreSQL 17 now helps SQL/JSON constructors (JSON, JSON_SCALAR, JSON_SERIALIZE) and question capabilities (JSON_EXISTS, JSON_QUERY, JSON_VALUE), in response to the group’s announcement, giving builders different methods of interfacing with their JSON information. This launch provides extra jsonpath expressions, with an emphasis of changing JSON information to a local PostgreSQL information kind, together with numeric, boolean, string, and date/time sorts, the group introduced.
Additional, in response to the group’s announcement, the brand new model brings extra options to MERGE, which is used for conditional updates. New capabilities embrace a RETURNING clause and the power to replace views., in addition to bulk loading and information exporting, together with as much as a 2x efficiency enchancment when exporting massive rows utilizing the COPY command. “COPY efficiency additionally has enhancements when the supply and vacation spot encodings match, and features a new possibility, ON_ERROR, that permits an import to proceed even when there may be an insert error,” the announcement stated.
One other key characteristic Kincaid identified is the addition of incremental backup. “Postgres databases might be 10s of terabytes, in some circumstances, 100 terabytes or extra, and having the ability to do a full backup on that might take a number of days, simply relying in your {hardware} and your structure and instruments,” he stated. “However now with incremental backup, you may mix incremental backups right into a full backup, separate from the precise database server, so that you don’t need to put some intensive load in your database server to do a full backup.”
PostgreSQL 17 brings system-wide efficiency good points and a extra strong developer expertise. Listed below are the launch notes for a whole listing of latest and altered options.
