PostgreSQL is an open-source object-relational database management system (DBMS) designed for storing, processing, and analyzing structured data. It is considered one of the most reliable and feature-rich DBMSs, supporting both traditional relational data and modern advanced data types.
Development of PostgreSQL began in 1986 as the POSTGRES project at the University of California, Berkeley. Today, PostgreSQL is used by startups as well as some of the world’s largest corporations.
Key Features
- SQL compliance – supports a wide range of SQL features and extensions.
- Open source – freely distributed under the PostgreSQL License.
- Object-relational model – enables working not only with tables but also with more complex data structures.
- Extensibility – allows users to create custom functions, data types, operators, and even programming languages.
- ACID compliance – ensures reliable transactions and data consistency.
- JSON support – can be used both as a relational database and as a NoSQL store.
Applications
PostgreSQL is used in a wide variety of fields, including:
- web development and SaaS projects;
- financial systems and banking;
- analytics and big data processing;
- telecommunications and infrastructure management;
- government and scientific research projects.
Advantages
- Reliability and robustness – proven by decades of use and millions of deployments.
- Free and open-source – no license costs, reducing expenses.
- Extensive ecosystem – thousands of community-developed modules and extensions.
- Support for complex scenarios – full-text search, geospatial data (PostGIS), JSON, XML.
- Cross-platform compatibility – runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and many Unix-like systems.
PostgreSQL also supports scalability through synchronous and asynchronous replication, sharding, and integration with external tools for distributed systems.