6 min read
Postgres ENUMs vs Lookup Tables: Why I Stopped Reaching for ENUMs
ENUMs feel cleaner until product asks for a label, a translation, or a soft-delete. Here is the simple rule I use, and the migration I have run more times than I can count.
PostgreSQL Field Notes
Notes for the problems that show up after launch: bad plans, awkward migrations, index debt, vacuum pressure, replica lag, and the small decisions that make PostgreSQL easier to operate.
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7 min read
Normalize vs Denormalize: When Each One Earns Its Keep
Normalization and denormalization are not opposing camps; they are two answers to two different questions. The trick is knowing which question you are actually asking.
8 min read
Generated Columns in Postgres: Less Application Glue, Better Queries
Generated columns are useful when derived data is a database invariant, not an application convenience. The hard part is deciding what belongs in the schema.
7 min read
Postgres Constraints: The Cheap Insurance Policy Most Schemas Skip
Constraints are not pedantic. They are how the database protects you from the application bugs you have not written yet. Here is the set I always add and why.
8 min read
Postgres Major Version Upgrades Without the Drama
Major version upgrades are intimidating until you have done one cleanly. Here is the playbook I use, the failure modes I have seen, and what to test before you commit.
8 min read
Zero-Downtime Postgres Migrations: The Three Patterns That Cover Most Cases
Zero-downtime migrations work when you split correctness from rollout: expand, backfill, dual-read or dual-write, validate, switch, then clean up.
13 min read
PostgreSQL VACUUM: Dead Tuples, Bloat, and Wraparound
VACUUM problems are cleanup debt. Dead tuples, bloat, frozen XIDs, and autovacuum lag turn normal queries into incident material when nobody is watching.
6 min read
Long-Running Transactions: The Quietest Way to Damage Your Postgres
Long transactions quietly hold back vacuum, keep locks alive, exhaust pools, and make old row versions stick around long after users moved on.
8 min read
Transaction Isolation in Postgres Without the Textbook Fog
Read Committed, Repeatable Read, Serializable. The textbook treatment puts most readers to sleep. Here is what each one actually means for your application.
6 min read
Deadlock Prevention in Postgres: Design It Out, Do Not Just Retry
Deadlocks are the symptom of a design that allows two transactions to hold each other's locks. The fix is rarely retry logic. Here is what to look for instead.
5 min read
ALTER TABLE Locks in Postgres: The Reference I Wish I Had Five Years Ago
ALTER TABLE is dangerous when you review syntax instead of locks. Some changes are instant, some queue behind writes, and some rewrite the whole table.
6 min read
VACUUM FREEZE in Postgres: The 4 a.m. Page You Can Prevent
Transaction ID wraparound is rare, dramatic, and entirely avoidable. Here is what FREEZE actually does, and the autovacuum settings that keep you out of single-user mode.