Instant PostgreSQL Starter

Daniel K. Lyons

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781782167563
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Data Mining
• Edition: 1

In Detail

PostgreSQL is an incredibly flexible and dependable open source relational database. Harnessing its power will make your applications more reliable and extensible without increasing costs. Using its advanced features will save you work and increase performance, once you've discovered how to set it up.

Instant PostgreSQL Starter will teach you how to install and use PostgreSQL for immediate benefit. A selection of advanced features has been chosen that highlights the breadth of its capabilities and usefulness for your applications. By the end of this book you'll be comfortable installing and using this powerful open source database.

Instant PostgreSQL Starter takes an absolute database beginner on a spirited journey from scratch through having PostgreSQL installed and usable, finishing with the basics down, and a sense of what else it can do for you.

After getting up and running, you'll learn how to insert, update, and delete data, as well as basic querying. You'll create and delete users and databases, and see how to store and query XML, search large text documents meaningfully, handle tree-structured data and unstructured key-value data, and handle a few special cases, such as passwords.

Packed with helpful examples and screenshots, you'll see clearly how to do each step. By the end of Instant PostgreSQL Starter you'll have your own personal database online and running, without any stress.

Approach

Get to grips with a new technology, understand what it is and what it can do for you, and then get to work with the most important features and tasks. Instant PostgreSQL Starter is a step-by-step guide to getting a PostgreSQL database up and running, with an accessible approach that helps you perform some initial steps with setup and optimization.

Who this book is for

If you're completely new to databases you'll benefit from this book's step-by-step approach to getting PostgreSQL installed and running. If you're curious about what sets PostgreSQL apart, you'll get a taste of the diverse features it has to offer. All you need to get started is this book and an Internet connection.

Instant PostgreSQL Starter

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Instant PostgreSQL Starter

Copyright © 2013 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the Daniel K. Lyons, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: April 2013

Production Reference: 1180413

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78216-756-3

www.packtpub.com

Credits

Author

Daniel K. Lyons

Reviewer

Reid Givens

Acquisition Editor

Erol Staveley

Commissioning Editor

Ameya Sawant

Technical Editor

Saijul Shah

Project Coordinator

Suraj Bist

Proofreader

Mario Cecere

Production Coordinator

Arvindkumar Gupta

Cover Work

Arvindkumar Gupta

Cover Image

Nitesh Thakur

About the Author

Daniel K. Lyons is a programmer and database administrator at the NRAO in Socorro, NM. He's been using PostgreSQL professionally and privately for a decade and it is one of the few technologies that he likes despite much use. In his spare time he likes to program in Haskell and Prolog.

I'd like to thank my beautiful wife Liz, whose firm but gentle patience made this book happen.

About the Reviewer

Reid Givens is the owner of Viaduct Digital, LLC, a digital media, and web development agency out of New Mexico. Reid received a degree in Interactive Media from the International Academy of Design and Technology in 2001. Reid started his career as a creative, working as a print, and web designer for small agencies. Since then, he has moved from graphic designer to creative director, advertising manager, and a few years as an organizational strategist until starting his own agency in 2007. He also speaks about marketing and the web, and has spent a few years running his own digital agency. Reid has also been known to pick up drumsticks from time to time.

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Chapter 1. Instant PostgreSQL Starter

Welcome to the Instant PostgreSQL Starter. This book has been especially created to provide you with all the information that you need to get set up with PostgreSQL. You will learn the basics of PostgreSQL, get started with installing your first database, and discover some tips and tricks for using and running PostgreSQL.

This document contains the following sections:

So, what is PostgreSQL? finds out what PostgreSQL actually is, what you can do with it, and why it's the most advanced open-source relational database management system.

Installation will show you how to download and install PostgreSQL with the minimum fuss and then set it up so that you can use it as soon as possible. We will take a brief detour afterwards to discuss a few important settings and how they affect performance.

Quick start – Creating your first table section will show you how to perform two of the core tasks of PostgreSQL; creating databases and users. Follow the steps to create your own database and administrator account, which will be the basis of most of your work in PostgreSQL.

Top 9 features you need to know about here you will learn how to perform six tasks with the most important features of PostgreSQL. By the end of this section you will be able to insert data and perform queries, examine database structure and size, backup and restore databases, import and export data to CSV, install extensions, and store unstructured data and passwords securely.

People and places you should get to know section provides you with many useful links to the project page and forums, as well as a number of helpful articles, tutorials, blogs, and the Twitter feeds of PostgreSQL super-contributors.

So, what is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is the premier open-source relational database. Long the underdog of the database world, its recent surge in popularity has come from users of other databases searching for a system with better reliability guarantees, better querying ca...