Good Use of Postgres
4 months ago
- #Database Best Practices
- #PostgreSQL
- #Backend Development
- Track everything with timestamps (created_at, updated_at) for debugging and history.
- Use dedicated log tables for critical state changes (e.g., order_status_logs).
- Set up Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) and continuous backups from day one.
- Implement soft deletes (deleted_at) instead of hard deletes for user-facing data.
- Design schemas based on query patterns, not just storage (denormalize if needed).
- Optimize indexing before resorting to caching (use EXPLAIN ANALYZE).
- Understand and monitor Postgres vacuuming to prevent bloat in high-churn tables.
- Keep ORM and migrations separate for explicit and reliable schema changes.
- Use lowercase with underscores for table and column names (e.g., user_accounts).
- Prefer IDENTITY over SERIAL for auto-generated primary keys (Postgres 10+).
- Use connection strings (postgresql://) over scattered key-value configs.