--- title: "PG 16's query planning enhancements" publication: "Postgres Weekly" issue: 542 published_at: "2024-02-14" canonical_url: "https://postgresweekly.com/issues/542" --- Plus a big list of Postgres events, some minor Postgres releases, and a review of a Postgres book. | #โ€‹542 โ€” February 14, 2024 [Web Version](https://postgresweekly.com/issues/542) ๐Ÿ“… If you're looking for a Postgres event to attend, check out the list at the end of this issue. So many have popped up on my radar recently, I wanted to share as many as I could. If you know of any others, drop me a line! __ _Your editor, Peter Cooper_ Together with [![Ottertune logo\](https://res.cloudinary.com/cpress/image/upload/c_fill,g_auto,e_trim,w_450,h_100/e_make_transparent/co_white,e_outline:7/d92wjjhrmysrssm2xhjm.png)](https://ottertune.com/?utm_source=postgres_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=feb_24_primary) Postgres Weekly [![\](https://res.cloudinary.com/cpress/image/upload/w_1280,e_sharpen:60,q_auto/tg37ghcxv1nev4za1jd3.jpg)](https://www.citusdata.com/blog/2024/02/08/whats-new-in-postgres-16-query-planner-optimizer/) [Whatโ€™s New in the Postgres 16 Query Planner / Optimizer](https://www.citusdata.com/blog/2024/02/08/whats-new-in-postgres-16-query-planner-optimizer/) โ€” Query planner improvements rarely make the headlines when a new release of Postgres lands, but Postgres 16 gained some _significant_ improvements that are enhancing all of our queries today. David walks through ten recent optimizations, complete with Postgres 15 vs 16 query plans, and shows us how and when things have improved. David Rowley ๐Ÿ—ฃ This post provoked [extensive discussion on Hacker News.](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39310837) [![\](https://copm.s3.amazonaws.com/39920809.png)](https://ottertune.com/?utm_source=postgres_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=feb_24_primary) [Auto Optimize Your RDS or Aurora Postgres Databases With AI](https://ottertune.com/?utm_source=postgres_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=feb_24_primary) โ€” Need help optimizing Postgres knobs, queries, indexes and autovacuum? OtterTune is your AI-powered database co-pilot that can improve performance, reduce costs and keep your databases healthy. Get a free, 30-day trial for three databases. OtterTune sponsor [PostgreSQL 16.2, 15.6, 14.11, 13.14, and 12.18 Released](https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/postgresql-162-156-1411-1314-and-1218-released-2807/) โ€” All supported versions get updates to fix a variety of bugs, as well as a security vulnerability where the owner of a materialized view could get a higher privileged user to run code associated with that view at their higher level (now all user-determined code is run as the viewโ€™s owner, as itโ€™s meant to be). PostgreSQL Global Development Group [pg_analytics: Transforming Postgres into a Fast OLAP Database](https://blog.paradedb.com/pages/introducing_analytics) โ€” Some interesting work from the folks over at ParadeDB. [pg_analytics](https://github.com/paradedb/paradedb/tree/dev/pg_analytics#overview) is an extension that significantly accelerates analytical query processing in Postgres, all without having to adopt an OLAP database. ParadeDB _IN BRIEF:_ - ๐Ÿ“— Andrew Dunstan has written [a brief review of _PostgreSQL 16 Administration Cookbook_](https://adpgtech.blogspot.com/2024/02/review-postgresql-16-administration.html), a book published by Packt that has _five_coโ€‘authors. - ๐Ÿ“Š A mapping of Robert Haas's [recent analysis](https://rhaas.blogspot.com/2024/01/who-contributed-to-postgresql.html) of contributors to Postgres to [which _companies and institutions_ contribute to Postgres](https://mktgsite.enterprisedb.com/blog/Postgres-16-contribution-analysis-2023) most: EDB, AWS, and Crunchy Data take the top spots. - Cybertec's Christoph Berg shared [his (mostly Postgres-oriented) experience of FOSDEM 2024.](https://www.cybertec-postgresql.com/en/fosdem-2024-in-brussels/) [Connecting to Postgres with `psql` and `.pg_service.conf`](https://www.timescale.com/blog/connecting-to-postgres-with-psql-and-pg_service-conf/) โ€” Forgot how to connect to your Postgres services? Say goodbye to `psql -h` and hello to [`.pg_service.conf`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-pgservice.html), Postgresโ€™s connection service file. James Blackwood-Sewell (Timescale) ๐Ÿ“ฐ Classifieds ๐Ÿ“ข Free [pgEdge](https://www.pgedge.com/get-started/cloud?utm_campaign=Cloud%20Developer%20Launch&utm_source=Postgres%20Weekly%20Sponsorship&utm_medium=Postgres%20Weekly&utm_term=Postgres%20Weekly&utm_content=Postgres%20Weekly) distributed Postgres DB with 3 node active-active cluster and one-click provisioning across 3 regions. [Free t-shirt to first 500](https://www.pgedge.com/get-started/cloud?utm_campaign=Cloud%20Developer%20Launch&utm_source=Postgres%20Weekly%20Sponsorship&utm_medium=Postgres%20Weekly&utm_term=Postgres%20Weekly&utm_content=Postgres%20Weekly). --- _'Perfect resolution, excellent audio, no lag'._ [Try Tuple for free today](https://tuple.app?utm_source=cooperpress&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=Q1_2024&utm_content=Postgres+Weekly_Classified+Listing), no credit card required. [![\](https://res.cloudinary.com/cpress/image/upload/w_1280,e_sharpen:60,q_auto/q8ic3evzrga9zehktzsz.jpg)](https://di.nmfay.com/random-geography-fluviation) [(Plausible) Random Geography Generation with PostGIS: Fluviation](https://di.nmfay.com/random-geography-fluviation) โ€” Geospatial stuff tends to go over my head, but I love seeing it. Great post with visuals. Dian M Fay [UUID Benchmark War: Benchmarking UUID Approaches](https://ardentperf.com/2024/02/03/uuid-benchmark-war/) Jeremy Schneider [Understanding RDS Pricing](https://www.timescale.com/blog/understanding-rds-pricing/) Mencarelli, Soto and Tavares (Timescale) ๐Ÿ›  Code and Tools [pg_graphql 1.5: Bring GraphQL Support to Postgres](https://github.com/supabase/pg_graphql) โ€” Reflects a GraphQL schema from the existing SQL schema, letting any GraphQL client query the database via GraphQL with no additional servers, processes, or libraries. v1.5 adds support for [offset pagination](https://github.com/supabase/pg_graphql/blob/master/docs/api.md#offset-pagination) via `first` and `offset`. Supabase [pgmeminfo: A New Extension to Investigate Memory Usage](https://okbob.blogspot.com/2024/02/new-extension-pgmeminfo.html) โ€” Pavel shows off his new extension which provides extended access to memory usage statistics from within Postgres, including info about Postgres is internally managing memory. Pavel Stฤ›hule [pgagroal-cli Gains JSON Output Support](https://fluca1978.github.io/2024/02/10/pgagroalJSONOutput.html) โ€” [pgagroal](https://github.com/agroal/pgagroal) is a high performance connection pool for Postgres and it now supports JSON output, which can be handy for automation scenarios and other integrations. Luca Ferrari - [TimescaleDB 2.14.0](https://github.com/timescale/timescaledb/releases/tag/2.14.0) โ€“ Time series capabilities for Postgres in an extension. This version lets you change the compression settings on existing compressed hypertables at any time. - [PostGIS patch releases:](https://postgis.net/2024/02/PostGIS-Patch-Releases/) v3.4.2, 3.3.6, 3.2.7, 3.1.11, 3.0.11, and 2.5.10. ๐Ÿ—“ **Upcoming Events** - ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท [pgDay Paris 2024 (March 14)](https://2024.pgday.paris/) โ€” You can follow them [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/pgDayParis) or [on Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@pgdayparis) for updates. - ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ [PostgreSQL@SCaLE21x (March 14-15)](https://www.postgresql.org/about/event/postgresqlscale21x-2482/) โ€” A two day, two track event that takes place in Pasadena, California, as part of [SCaLE 21x](https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/21x). - ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ [PGDay at FOSSASIA Summit (April 9)](https://summit.fossasia.org/pgday) โ€” _FOSSASIA PGDay 2024_ takes place in Hanoi, Vietnam, as part of the broader _FOSSASIA Summit._ - ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช [PostgreSQL Conference Germany 2024 (April 12)](https://2024.pgconf.de/) โ€” The next iteration takes place in Munich. - ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ [Postgres Conference 2024 (April 17-19)](https://postgresconf.org/) โ€” Taking place in San Jose, California. [The CFP is open](https://postgresconf.org/conferences/2024#callforpapers) for just a few more days! - ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ [PGDay Chicago 2024 (April 26)](https://2024.pgdaychicago.org/) โ€” Part of a nonโ€“profit, communityโ€“run conference series. [The schedule](https://postgresql.us/events/pgdaychicago2024/schedule/) has just been unveiled. - ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช [PGConf.BE 2024 (May 7)](https://pgconf.be/) โ€” In Haasrode, Belgium. Their [call for speakers](https://pgconf.be/#cfs) is open. - ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ [PostgreSQL Development Conference 'pgconf.dev' 2024 (May 28-31)](https://2024.pgconf.dev/) โ€” This year in Vancouver, Canada. - ๐ŸŒŽ [POSETTE (June 11-13)](https://www.citusdata.com/posette/2024/) โ€” Formerly known as Citus Con, POSETTE is a free and virtual developer event organized by the Postgres team at Microsoft. - ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ [Swiss PGDay 2024 (June 27-28)](https://www.pgday.ch/2024/) โ€” Two day conference with presentations mainly in English, but also some in German. - ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ [PGConf NYC 2024 (September 30-October 2)](https://2024.pgconf.nyc) โ€” A 3-day conference in New York City, promising to be packed with user stories and best practices. [The CFP is open](https://2024.pgconf.nyc/callforpapers/) until June. **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|*).