---
title: "This Week's PostgreSQL News (#21)"
publication: "Postgres Weekly"
issue: 21
published_at: "2013-07-31"
canonical_url: "https://postgresweekly.com/issues/21"
---

Postgres Weekly Issue 21 - July 31, 2013

[Archives](http://postgresweekly.com/issues) [Read this issue on the Web](http://postgresweekly.com/issues/21)**Postgres Weekly****Issue 21**
July 31, 2013As always, a big thanks to [Craig Kerstiens](https://twitter.com/craigkerstiens) for curating Postgres Weekly and if you want to recommend anything for a future issue, tweet @craigkerstiens and he'll consider it! :-)Featured[How to Build A Simple REST API Using Only Nginx and PostgreSQL](http://rny.io/nginx/postgresql/2013/07/26/simple-api-with-nginx-and-postgresql.html?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)Often times a full web framework can be overkill if you need a simple rest API. Fortunately there's a Postgres module for nginx that makes building a simple, persistent REST server rather easy._Richard Nyström_From our sponsor[Heroku Postgres - Fully managed Postgres on EC2](https://postgres.heroku.com/?utm_source=postgresweekly=email=emailbanner?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)There's a lot to worry about when building your application; ensuring your database is secured, backed up, available shouldn't have to be part of that. Let Heroku Postgres focus on keeping your database running so you can take advantage of all the awesome features within Postgres.

_Heroku Postgres is the worlds largest provider of Postgres as a Service, offering fully managed databases on top of EC2. Get started today for free and scale easily as your application needs to._[![\](http://s3.amazonaws.com/nlga/uploads/item/image/10726/thumb125_125x125-build-more-blue.png)](https://postgres.heroku.com/?utm_source=postgresweekly=email=emailbanner?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)The rest[Merging JSONs in PostgreSQL](http://blog.endpoint.com/2013/07/merging-jsons-in-postgresql.html?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)Following some previous posts about [JavaScript support in Postgres](https://postgres.heroku.com/blog/past/2013/6/5/javascript_in_your_postgres/), here's another look at taking advantage of it to merge data from the JSON datatype.[Simple CSV Dumps from your Postgres Database](http://www.openscg.com/2013/07/simple-csv-dumps-from-your-postgres-database/?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)When moving data around and doing various ETL you don't always need a robust tool, sometimes you just need some CSVs to work with. Postgres of course makes it simple and here's a great look at at some of the options for exporting CSVs.[wal-e: A S3 based WAL-shipping disaster recovery and standby toolkit](https://github.com/wal-e/wal-e?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)If you're running your own Postgres you want to make sure your data is safe. Here's a S3 based WAL-shipping disaster recovery and standby toolkit, with some great new features in its [upcoming release](http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.db.postgresql.wal-e/51)_GitHub_[Waiting for 9.4 – Add SQL Standard WITH ORDINALITY support for UNNEST](http://www.depesz.com/2013/07/30/waiting-for-9-4-add-sql-standard-with-ordinality-support-for-unnest-and-any-other-srf/?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)With Postgres 9.3 still just around the corner Postgres 9.4 features keep rolling in. Here's a look at another great one allowing you to retrieve the order when unnesting data.[Documenting your PostgreSQL database](http://www.craigkerstiens.com/2013/07/29/documenting-your-postgres-database/?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)Documenting your code is not just encouraged its almost required nowadays. You should be doing the exact same to your database and here's a look at how._Craig Kerstiens_[How to Create Postgres Indexes Concurrently in ActiveRecord Migrations](http://robots.thoughtbot.com/post/56828751507/how-to-create-postgres-indexes-concurrently-in?utm_source=postgresweekly&utm_medium=email)Postgres' CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY is an amazing feature that lets you add an index without locking the table. While previously not simple to work with in ActiveRecord, coming in Rails 4 you've got support built right in.Curated by [Craig Kerstiens](http://craigkerstiens.com/) and published by [Cooper Press](https://cooperpress.com/).
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