What Topics Does This Book Cover?

PostgreSQL is a huge product. It's not easy to find the right mix of topics when you are trying to fit everything into a single book. This book is divided into three parts .

The first part, "General PostgreSQL Use," is an introduction and user 's guide for PostgreSQL. Chapter 1, "Introduction to PostgreSQL and SQL" covers the basics “ ”how to obtain and install PostgreSQL (if you are running Linux, chances are you already have PostgreSQL and it may be installed). The first chapter also provides a gentle introduction to SQL and discusses the sample database we'll be using throughout the book. Chapter 2, "Working with Data in PostgreSQL," describes the many data types supported by a standard PostgreSQL distribution; you'll learn how to enter values (literals) for each data type, what kind of data you can store with each type, and how those data types are combined into expressions. Chapter 3, "PostgreSQL SQL Syntax and Use," fills in some of the details we glossed over in the first two chapters. You'll learn how to create new databases, new tables and indexes, and how PostgreSQL keeps your data safe through the use of transactions. Chapter 4, "Performance," describes the PostgreSQL optimizer. I'll show you how to get information about the decisions made by the optimizer, how to decipher that information, and how to influence those decisions.

Part II, "Programming with PostgreSQL," is all about PostgreSQL programming. In Chapter 5, "Introduction to PostgreSQL Programming," we start off by describing the options you have when developing a database application that works with PostgreSQL (and there are a lot of options). Chapter 6, "Extending PostgreSQL," briefly describes how to extend PostgreSQL by adding new functions, data types, and operators. Chapter 7, "PL/pgSQL describes the PL/pgSQL language. PL/pgSQL is a server-based procedural language. Code that you write in PL/pgSQL executes within the PostgreSQL server and has very fast access to data. Each chapter in the remainder of the programming section deals with a client-based API. You can connect to a PostgreSQL server using a number of languages. I show you how to interface to PostgreSQL using C, C++, ecpg, ODBC, JDBC, Perl, PHP, Tcl/Tk, and Python. Chapters 8 through 17 all follow the same pattern: you develop a series of client applications in a given language. The first client application shows you how to establish a connection to the database (and how that connection is represented by the language in question). The next client adds error checking so that you can intercept and react to unusual conditions. The third client in each chapter demonstrates how to process SQL commands from within the client. The final client wraps everything together and shows you how to build an interactive query processor using the language being discussed. Even if you program in only one or two languages, I would encourage you to study the other chapters in this section. I think you'll find that looking at the same application written in a variety of languages will help you understand the philosophy followed by the PostgreSQL development team, and it's a great way to start learning a new language.

The final part of this book (Part III, "PostgreSQL Administration") deals with administrative issues. The final four chapters of this book show you how to perform the occasional duties required of a PostgreSQL administrator. In the first two chapters, Chapter 18, "Introduction to PostgreSQL Administration," and Chapter 19, "PostgreSQL Administration," you'll learn how to start up, shut down, back up, and restore a server. In Chapter 20, "Internationalization and Localization," you will learn how PostgreSQL supports internationalization and localization. PostgreSQL understands how to store and process a variety of single-byte and multi-byte character sets including Unicode, ASCII, and Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Taiwan EUC. Finally, in Chapter 21, "Security," I'll show you how to secure your data against unauthorized uses (and unauthorized users).