Learn PostgreSQL: Build and manage high-performance database solutions using PostgreSQL 12 and 13

PostgreSQL is more than a place to store tables: it is a database system with its own administration practices, query language, and tools for building dependable applications. Learn PostgreSQL takes readers through those moving parts using PostgreSQL 12 and 13 as its focus, from setting up a cluster to managing data and tuning a working system.

Luca Ferrari and Enrico Pirozzi shape the book as a progression from fundamentals to practical development and operations. Readers can build their understanding step by step, while experienced database users can consult its coverage of specific PostgreSQL features and tasks.

Start with the cluster, then get to work

The opening material introduces PostgreSQL terminology and installation, then turns to cluster management, connections, roles, and configuration. From there, the book moves into creating and managing databases and tables, writing SQL statements, and working with joins, aggregates, common table expressions, and window functions.

Make SQL serve real database work

Rather than stopping at query syntax, the coverage connects SQL to the broader tasks of developing and operating a database. Topics include data definition and manipulation, PL/pgSQL and server-side programming, schema and index choices, and the use of extensions. Together, these subjects help readers see how database structure, application needs, and efficient queries fit together.

Keep performance and reliability in view

Administration and maintenance are part of the book’s central scope. It discusses monitoring, testing, troubleshooting, and identifying performance bottlenecks, as well as PostgreSQL’s use in multi-instance environments for high availability, redundancy, and scalability.

A practical route through PostgreSQL

This book is relevant to developers, database administrators, and readers building their first understanding of PostgreSQL. Some familiarity with databases is helpful, but the material begins with foundational concepts before advancing into more specialized operations and development features.

For readers who want a single guided path from installation and SQL foundations toward managing and developing with PostgreSQL, Ferrari and Pirozzi provide a broad, hands-on-oriented introduction to the system.