Extensions are capable of extending, changing, and advancing the behavior of Postgres. How? By hooking into low level Postgres API hooks. The open source Citus database that scales out Postgres horizontally is itself implemented as a PostgreSQL extension, which allows Citus to stay current with Postgres releases without lagging behind like other Postgres forks. I've previously written about the various types of extensions, today though I want to take a deeper look at the most useful Postgres extension: pg_stat_statements.
Postgres keeps getting better and better. In recent years, the Postgres community has added JSONB support, improved performance, and added so many usability enhancements. The result: you can work even more powerfully with your database. Over the past 8 years, my favorite two enhancements have been JSONB and pg_stat_statements. Pg_stat_statements is a built-in extension that allows you to get high level insights into queries that are being run as well as their performance—without having to be an expert and without needing a PhD in databases.
Introducing the new landlord feature in Citus 7.5
With Citus 7.5, we've gone one step beyond the awesomeness of pg_stat_statements and Postgres, with the new landlord feature in Citus—to give you per-tenant stats.
"Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age."
—Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Announcing the release of Citus 6.2
Today I’m happy to announce that we’ve rolled out a new version of our database, Citus 6.2. Because as most of you know, good software never stops evolving. Nor should it. If you want the scoop on the new capabilities in Citus 6.2, just scroll ahead. But before diving in, I need to explain the lightsaber pic. Why? Because usually a picture speaks a thousand words, but sometimes it needs an annotation. :-)
When my colleagues first started on their journey to build Citus, they had a vision of combining the best aspects of relational databases with the elastic scale of NoSQL—to give developers a database that delivers SQL capabilities, at scale.
But vision alone does not make a successful company. The Citus co-founders needed a mix of key ingredients: the right team, good timing, good execution, a willingness to experiment and learn, plus (of course) a good idea.
When George Lucas describes his days before the first Star Wars film, he said he was “searching for just the right ingredients, characters and storyline.” In Lucas’s search for the right mix, he too had to iterate: he wrote four different screenplays before landing on the final version of the original film!
Because our CTO is such a big fan of Star Wars, Ozgun sometimes talks about his vision for Citus in the language of the Jedi: Ozgun has said his aim for Citus was “to create a database as elegant and as powerful as a lightsaber.” Now, I’m more of a Stranger Things fan myself (after all, mornings are for coffee and contemplation) but I get Ozgun’s desire to create a database that gives you the benefits of SQL—at scale.