Thinking of migrating to PostgreSQL? This updated guide helps you quickly understand and use the 9.3 release of this open source database system. You'll not only learn about its unique enterprise-class features, but also discover that PostgeSQL is more than just a database system--it's also an impressive application platform.

Using numerous examples, this book shows you how to achieve tasks that are difficult or impossible in other databases. The second edition covers LATERAL queries, augmented JSON support, materialized views, and other key topics. If you're an existing PostgreSQL user, you'll pick up gems you may have missed along the way.

• Learn basic administration tasks, such as role management, database creation, backup, and restore
• Apply the psql command-line utility and the pgAdmin graphical administration tool
• Explore PostgreSQL tables, constraints, and indexes
• Learn powerful SQL constructs not generally found in other databases
• Use several different languages to write database functions
• Tune your queries to run as fast as your hardware will allow
• Query external and variegated data sources with Foreign Data Wrappers
• Learn how to replicate data, using built-in replication features