Terms and Conditions:

John Worsley wrote:Copyright (c) 2001 by Command Prompt, Inc. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/ ).



 

Book Excerpts:

PostgreSQL is one of the most successful open source databases available. It is arguably also the most advanced, with a wide range of features that challenge even many closed-source databases.

This book is intended to be a practical guide to PostgreSQL v7.1.x, though most of the book should also apply to earlier and future releases of PostgreSQL. The content is focused on getting the reader comfortable with PostgreSQL in the most expedient fashion possible. Although this book will touch on some academic database subjects, such discussion will be kept brief. The core focus is to provide the reader with enough of an understanding of PostgreSQL to manage a fully operational PostgreSQL database. The hope is that by introducing this book to the community it will provide a better understanding of PostgreSQL and its functionality.

Organization of the Book:

This book is divided into four parts, each focused on a different aspect of a PostgreSQL database system. It also includes a complete command reference, and a small set of technical appendixes.

Part I, is a general overview of PostgreSQL. It documents what it is, where you can obtain it, and how to install it on your system. It also covers a wide variety of compilation options which allow you to customize PostgreSQL to your needs.

Part II, includes everything from general information on relational databases and the structured query language (SQL), to advanced extensibility of PostgreSQL's functions and operators.

Part III, explores topics with which you should be familiar if you are (or plan to be) the administrator of a PostgreSQL database.

Part IV, is a foray into the world of programming for PostgreSQL, covering the PL/pgSQL procedural language, JDBC (Java DataBase Connectivity), and LXP.

Finally, Part 5 contains a comprehensive command reference guide, which documents each of the standard and extended SQL commands supported by PostgreSQL.

Intended Audience

This book is for anyone interested in utilizing the PostgreSQL object-relational database-management system (ORDBMS). The reader should be familiar with Linux - and UNIX-based systems, but is not expected to be a database guru. Although the test operating system for this book is Red Hat Linux, the tasks in this book that apply to Linux should apply to most UNIX variants without much modification.

Reviews:

Amazon.com

:( "O'Reilly generally does a pretty good job, but it seems like they spent very little time on this book. The "practical" examples in it are pretty useless, and you can glean just as much through a simple web search."

:) "The authors clearly explain the topics covered in the book, I've given the book to several co-workers who were interested in the book and they also view it favorably."