--- title: "What clicked in 2021." publication: "Postgres Weekly" issue: 436 published_at: "2021-12-22" canonical_url: "https://postgresweekly.com/issues/436" --- We're back on January 12, 2022. | #​436 — December 22, 2021 [Web Version](https://postgresweekly.com/issues/436) 🎄 Many season's greetings to all of you – we'll be back on Wednesday, January 12 after a two week break. Thanks for all of your support this year! __ _Peter Cooper, your editor_ Postgres Weekly The Best of Postgres Weekly in 2021 What defines the _best?_ We're not putting any editorial slant on it, it's entirely on popularity. But hopefully you'll see a few things that escaped your attention before :-) [![\](https://res.cloudinary.com/cpress/image/upload/w_1280,e_sharpen:60/pslzvoamdiae0nmrbgow.jpg)](https://retool.com/blog/best-postgresql-guis-in-2020/) 1. [A Roundup of Postgres GUIs in 2021](https://retool.com/blog/best-postgresql-guis-in-2020/) — This post originally came from 2020 but got an update for 2021 covering some common database clients like pgAdmin, Navicat, DBeaver, HeidiSQL, Datagrip, and others. It'll be interesting to see if we get any newcomers in 2022. Angel D'az 2. [125 `psql` Tips](https://psql-tips.org/psql_tips_all.html) — This was originally _100_ tips when we first included it, but now there’s 125 bite-sized tips for the tried and tested `psql` client. If you have a `psql` session coming up any time soon, this is worth a browse. It’s also possible to load [a single tip](https://psql-tips.org/psql_tips_055.html) and hop through randomly if you don’t want to be overwhelmed. Lætitia Avrot [![\](https://copm.s3.amazonaws.com/12f9c742.png)](https://pganalyze.com/ebooks/postgres-indexing?utm_source=PostgresWeeklyPrimary12222021) [Free eBook: Effective Indexing in Postgres](https://pganalyze.com/ebooks/postgres-indexing?utm_source=PostgresWeeklyPrimary12222021) — Learn how to create the best Postgres index for your queries. We provide a deep dive into index types, operators, data types and more. Creating the right indexes can often improve your query performance. pganalyze sponsor 3. [Lots of Lesser Known Postgres Features](https://hakibenita.com/postgresql-unknown-features) — Haki’s articles are often catnip to us as they cover a lot of ground, and so it goes with this roundup of practical examples of Postgres features you might not be familiar with. Perhaps my personal favorite of the year. Haki Benita 4. [Working with Hierarchical Structures in Postgres](https://hoverbear.org/blog/postgresql-hierarchical-structures/) — Trees and similar hierarchical structures are often required when modelling data and there are multiple ways to implement them in Postgres. This post looks at materialized views with recursive CTEs and using [`ltree`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/12/ltree.html) columns. Ana Hobden 5. [Postgres 14: It's The Little Things](https://blog.crunchydata.com/blog/postgres-14-its-the-little-things) — Postgres 14 is now here, but just before it came out, Craig Kerstiens wrote how version 14 is made up of lots of smaller improvements rather than around any sort of 'big pillar' features. Craig Kerstiens 6. [Do You Need Redis? Postgres Does Queuing, Locking, and Pub/Sub..](https://spin.atomicobject.com/2021/02/04/redis-postgresql/) — I’m a huge [Redis](https://redis.io/) fan and while it’s common to have a mainstream database (like Postgres) _and_ Redis running side by side, you can potentially just use Postgres for things like job queues or locks. Chris Farber [Develop a Faster Way to Work. Build Internal Tools, Remarkably Fast](https://retool.com/?utm_source=sponsor&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=cooperpress) Retool sponsor 7. [Postgres vs Redis vs Memcached Performance](https://www.cybertec-postgresql.com/en/postgresql-vs-redis-vs-memcached-performance/) — Each of these data stores has different use cases, but how would it look performance-wise, if you skipped the cache and hit the database directly? Kaarel ran some benchmarks and shared his thoughts. Kaarel Moppel 8. [Is Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL or Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL a Better Choice for Me?](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/is-amazon-rds-for-postgresql-or-amazon-aurora-postgresql-a-better-choice-for-me/) — I think there’s a lot of confusion about when Aurora or straight RDS suit the situation. Here, Amazon attempts to clarify things. Amazon Web Services **The best of the rest..** [Better JSON in Postgres with Postgres 14](https://blog.crunchydata.com/blog/better-json-in-postgres-with-postgresql-14) Craig Kerstiens [The Unexpected Find That Freed 20GB of Unused Index Space](https://hakibenita.com/postgresql-unused-index-size) Haki Benita [JSON in Postgres: How to Use It Right](https://www.cybertec-postgresql.com/en/json-postgresql-how-to-use-it-right/) Laurenz Albe [Cut Out the Middle Tier: Generating JSON Directly from Postgres](https://blog.crunchydata.com/blog/generating-json-directly-from-postgres) Paul Ramsey [Understanding `LATERAL` Joins in Postgres](https://www.cybertec-postgresql.com/en/understanding-lateral-joins-in-postgresql/) Hans-Jürgen Schönig **Got a new email?** You can [change your address here](https://postgresweekly.com/edit_subscription/*|UID|*). --- **Bored of us?** [Click here to stop getting Postgres Weekly](https://postgresweekly.com/leave/*|UID|*). --- **Got a link for us?** Reply and tell us. We can't include everything but we'll look at anything you send. Thanks! --- Published by Cooper Press Ltd. Fairfield Enterprise Centre, Louth, LN11 0LS, United Kingdom Postgres, PostgreSQL and the Slonik Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of the PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada. [Stop getting this newsletter.](https://postgresweekly.com/leave/*|UID|*)