Schedule - PGConf.DE 2025
The Lifecycle of a SELECT: A Glimpse into the Depths of PostgreSQL Internals
Date: 2025-05-08
Time: 10:25–11:10
Room: Ballsaal 2
Level: Intermediate
PostgreSQL practitioners often advise developers with recommendations like "Always use EXPLAIN ANALYZE with BUFFERS" or "Run ANALYZE first". However, these suggestions are rarely accompanied by clear explanations of why they matter. Inspired by the motto "Knowledge of certain principles easily compensates for the lack of knowledge of certain facts," this talk sheds light on key PostgreSQL architectural concepts and their connection to common design and performance best practices.
Through a series of increasingly complex SELECT queries, we will explore how PostgreSQL’s internal mechanisms enable safe, fast, and efficient data processing. This session is designed for application developers who want to deepen their understanding of how PostgreSQL executes queries—and how to harness its full potential without accidentally bringing it to its knees.