PostgreSQL is one of the most successful Open Source projects available. It is arguably the most advanced Open Source database available, with a wide range of features that even many closed-source databases may not attain.
Our hope is that by introducing this book to the community, we will give better understanding of PostgreSQL and its associated functionality. This book is intended to be a practical guide to PostgreSQL v7.1.x, although most of the book should apply to earlier and future releases of PostgreSQL. The content has been written to provide a means of allowing you to get comfortable with PostgreSQL in the most expedient fashion. Although we will touch on some academic database subjects, the discussion will be kept brief. Our core focus is to provide the reader with enough understanding of PostgreSQL to create a fully operational PostgreSQL database.
This book is intended to be used by any person who is interested in utilizing the PostgreSQL database management system. The reader should be familiar with Linux/Unix based systems but is not expected to be a database guru. Also, as with most Linux/Unix based systems, the tasks in this book that apply to Linux should apply to most common Unix variants without much modification.