<p>
PostgreSQL comes with <a href="/about/featurematrix/">many features</a> aimed to help developers build applications, administrators to protect data integrity and build fault-tolerant environments, and help you manage your data no matter how big or small the dataset. In addition to being <a href="/about/license/">free and open source</a>, PostgreSQL is highly extensible. For example, you can define your own data types, build out custom functions, even write code from <a href="/docs/current/xplang.html">different programming languages</a> without recompiling your database!
</p>
-<p>PostgreSQL tries to conform with the <a href="/docs/current/features.html">SQL standard</a> where such conformance does not contradict traditional features or could lead to poor architectural decisions. Many of the features required by the SQL standard are supported, though sometimes with slightly differing syntax or function. Further moves towards conformance can be expected over time. As of the version 15 release in October 2022, PostgreSQL conforms to at least 170 of the 179 mandatory features for SQL:2016 Core conformance. As of this writing, no relational database meets full conformance with this standard.
+<p>PostgreSQL tries to conform with the <a href="/docs/current/features.html">SQL standard</a> where such conformance does not contradict traditional features or could lead to poor architectural decisions. Many of the features required by the SQL standard are supported, though sometimes with slightly differing syntax or function. Further moves towards conformance can be expected over time. As of the version 16 release in September 2023, PostgreSQL conforms to at least 170 of the 179 mandatory features for SQL:2023 Core conformance. As of this writing, no relational database meets full conformance with this standard.
</p>
<p>Below is an inexhaustive list of various features found in PostgreSQL, with more being added in every <a href="/developer/roadmap/">major release</a>:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Stored functions and procedures</li>
<li>Procedural Languages: PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python, and Tcl. There are other languages available through extensions, e.g. Java, JavaScript (V8), R, Lua, and Rust</li>
- <li>SQL/JSON path expressions</li>
+ <li>SQL/JSON constructors and path expressions</li>
<li>Foreign data wrappers: connect to other databases or streams with a standard SQL interface</li>
<li>Customizable storage interface for tables</li>
<li>Many extensions that provide additional functionality, including PostGIS</li>
<h3>700+ Contributors</h3>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid">
- <h3>54,000+ Commits</h3>
+ <h3>56,500+ Commits</h3>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid">
- <h3>55+ Local User Groups</h3>
+ <h3>70+ Local User Groups</h3>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<h3>1,600,000+ Lines of C</h3>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid">
- <h3>675+ Events</h3>
+ <h3>700+ Events</h3>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid">
<h3>Millions of Happy Users</h3>
<h1>Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
<p><strong>Q: What is the current version of PostgreSQL?</strong><br />
-A: 15, which was released on October 13, 2022. This is our 32nd major release in over 35 years of development. We release a new version of PostgreSQL every year, which is unique among SQL databases.</p>
+A: 16, which was released on September 14, 2023. This is our 33rd major release in over 37 years of development. We release a new version of PostgreSQL every year, which is unique among SQL databases.</p>
<p><strong>Q: Does the PostgreSQL Project have a Code of Conduct?</strong><br />
A: The PostgreSQL Project prides itself on the quality of our code and our work, and the technical and professional accomplishments of our community. We expect everyone who participates to conduct themselves in a professional manner, acting with common courtesy and in the common interest, with respect for all users and developers. To that end, we established a <a href="/about/policies/coc/">Code of Conduct</a> for community interaction and participation in the project’s work and the community at large.
<p><strong>Q: How does versioning work?</strong><br />
-A: PostgreSQL <a href="/support/versioning/">versioning</a> has a two-part number scheme. The first number (e.g. 1
5) represents the major version, which is a new feature release. The second number represents a patch version, which is a bug / security fix release. For example, "15.1" is the first patch release of PostgreSQL 15. For more information, please see the <a href="/support/versioning/">PostgreSQL versioning</a> page.
+A: PostgreSQL <a href="/support/versioning/">versioning</a> has a two-part number scheme. The first number (e.g. 1
6) represents the major version, which is a new feature release. The second number represents a patch version, which is a bug / security fix release. For example, "16.1" is the first patch release of PostgreSQL 16. For more information, please see the <a href="/support/versioning/">PostgreSQL versioning</a> page.
</p>
<p><strong>Q: When do releases happen?</strong><br />
-A: Major version releases happen roughly once-a-year around
Q4. Patch releases occur once-a-quarter. You can read more about the release schedule on the <a href="/developer/roadmap/">roadmap</a> page.
+A: Major version releases happen roughly once-a-year around
September. Patch releases are scheduled once-a-quarter (February, May, August, November). You can read more about the release schedule on the <a href="/developer/roadmap/">roadmap</a> page.
</p>
<p><strong>Q: Why are older versions that are labeled 9.6.6 or 9.5.9?</strong><br />
A: There are many companies that provide paid support for PostgreSQL. You can find support vendors by regional from the <a href="/support/professional_support/">professional services list</a>. Please note that this list is strictly informational and is not an endorsement of any of these vendors.</p>
<p><strong>Q: What's the relationship between the PostgreSQL Project and the companies listed on the "Sponsors" page?</strong><br />
-A: The PostgreSQL project enjoys the support of multiple companies who sell products or services built with PostgreSQL, and in turn contribute code, money and staff time to the projec. None of them "own" PostgreSQL, nor is any individual company responsible for PostgreSQL code development. This is the same as Linux, Apache and FreeBSD.</p>
-
-<p><strong>Q: Does PostgreSQL run on the Cloud?</strong><br />
-A: Yes. Like other open source databases, PostgreSQL is easy to run in both containers and virtual machines and is highly portable. Many companies have support for PostgreSQL in cloud hosting environments, including all of the major cloud providers.</p>
+A: The PostgreSQL project enjoys the support of multiple companies who sell products or services built with PostgreSQL, and in turn contribute code, money and staff time to the project. None of them "own" PostgreSQL, nor is any individual company responsible for PostgreSQL code development. This is the same as Linux, Apache and FreeBSD.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How does PostgreSQL compare to MySQL?</strong><br />
A: This is a topic that can start several hours of discussion. PostgreSQL is liberally licenced and owned by its community; MySQL is GPL-licenced and owned by Oracle. Beyond that, each database user should make his own evaluation; open source software makes doing comparisons very easy. We encourage you to look at a high-level summary of PostgreSQL features and functionality on the <a href="/about/">about PostgreSQL</a> page.</p>
A: The term "NoSQL" covers such a diverse array of non-relational database implementations, from tiny embedded databases like BerkeleyDB to massive clustered data processing platforms like Hadoop, that it's impossible to comment on them as a general class. Non-relational databases preceded relational databases and have existed alongside them for forty years, so choosing between relational and nonrelational databases is nothing new. Users should choose the database whose features, implementation, and community support their current application needs. Further, using multiple different databases for large projects is fast becoming the norm, and PostgreSQL users are no exception.<br /><br />
Additionally, PostgreSQL has supported storing "unstructured" data types such as JSON and XML for many years.</p>
-<p><strong>Q: When will PostgreSQL 16 come out?</strong><br />
-A: The PostgreSQL project begins work on the next version of PostgreSQL in July of each year, and it generally takes 12 to 15 months to work to a release. So expect version 16 around September 2023.</p>
+<p><strong>Q: Is PostgreSQL a "vector database"?</strong><br />
+A: PostgreSQL supports storing and searching over many data types, including vectors. PostgreSQL has an <a href="/docs/current/arrays.html">array</a> data type that can store multi-dimensional data. PostgreSQL's extension framework lets developers add additional vector functionality into PostgreSQL, including custom indexes that interface into PostgreSQL's memory and storage management systems. There are several extensions that augment PostgreSQL's vector search capabilities.
+</p>
-<p><strong>Q: What features will PostgreSQL 16 have?</strong><br />
-A: As always, we can't be certain what will go in and what won't; the project has strict quality standards that not all patches can make before deadline. All we can tell you is what's currently being worked on, which includes native transparent data encryption support, continued improvements to logical replication, parallelism, partitioning, and vacuuming, and many more features. By the time 16 is released, though, this list may have changed considerably.</p>
+<p><strong>Q: When will PostgreSQL 17 come out?</strong><br />
+A: The PostgreSQL project begins work on the next version of PostgreSQL in July of each year, and releases the GA in September of the following year. So expect version 17 around September 2024.</p>
<p><strong>Q: How do you pronounce PostgreSQL</strong><br />
A: post-GRES-que-ell, per this <a href="/files/postgresql.mp3">audio file</a>. However, many people find it easier to just say "post-GRES".</p>
projects / pgweb.git / commitdiff