The PostgreSQL World Growth Group introduced the discharge of PostgreSQL 17, the latest model of the open supply database.
In keeping with 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 help 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 keeping with Tom Kincaid, SVP of Database Server Growth at EDB, a significant contributor to the undertaking. “I feel one of many issues individuals ask for essentially the most is the implementation of JSON_TABLE, which allows you to 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 the 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 keeping with 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 sort, together with numeric, boolean, string, and date/time varieties, the group introduced.
Additional, in keeping with the group’s announcement, the brand new model brings extra options to MERGE, which is used for conditional updates. New capabilities embody a RETURNING clause and the flexibility 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 choice, ON_ERROR, that enables an import to proceed even when there may be an insert error,” the announcement mentioned.
One other key function Kincaid identified is the addition of incremental backup. “Postgres databases will be 10s of terabytes, in some circumstances, 100 terabytes or extra, and having the ability to do a full backup on that would take a number of days, simply relying in your {hardware} and your structure and instruments,” he mentioned. “However now with incremental backup, you’ll be able to mix incremental backups right into a full backup, separate from the precise database server, so that you don’t must put some in depth load in your database server to do a full backup.”
PostgreSQL 17 brings system-wide efficiency features and a extra sturdy developer expertise. Listed here are the launch notes for an entire listing of recent and altered options.
