Materialized views are a great improvement to performance in many cases. Introduced in PostgreSQL 9.3, they finally added an easy method for turning a view into a transient table that could be indexed, mined for statistics for better planner performance, and easily rebuilt. Unfortunately, refreshing a materialized view in PostgreSQL 9.3 caused a full exclusive lock, blocking any use until the process was complete. In 9.4, this can finally be done concurrently, though there are still a couple caveats.

Every once in a while, I get the itch to cook something. This time around, chili was my poison of choice because this winter won’t end and I’m silently protesting. This is probably the best chili I’ve ever made, so I’m required by law to share it. Seriously, this stuff is amazeballs.

Long have CASE statements been a double-edged sword in the database world. They’re functional, diverse, adaptive, and simple. Unfortunately they’re also somewhat bulky, and when it comes to using them to categorize aggregates, something of a hack. This is why I wanted to cry with joy when I found out that PostgreSQL 9.4 introduced a feature I’ve always wanted, but found difficult to express as a need. I mean, CASE statements are fine, right? Well, yes they are, but now we have something better. Now, we have the FILTER aggregate expression.

I want to tell a story, and I’m sure most people won’t like it for one reason or another. If you stop reading after the first paragraph or two, I won’t blame you. It’s hard to read, and says a lot of bad things about humanity. But I like to think that it also provides necessary perspective that helps society see where it needs to improve.

As many seasoned DBAs might know, there’s one area that PostgreSQL still manages to be highly aggravating. By this, I mean the role views have in mucking up PostgreSQL dependencies. The part that annoys me personally, is that it doesn’t have to be this way.