🐘 PostgreSQL Optimization

"Beyond 'just add an index' — creative solutions for real performance problems."

Unconventional optimization techniques for PostgreSQL that go beyond standard DBA playbooks.

Purpose

When conventional approaches fall short — query rewrites, adding indexes, VACUUM, ANALYZE — these techniques offer creative solutions:

• Eliminate impossible query scans with constraint exclusion
• Reduce index size with function-based indexes
• Enforce uniqueness with hash indexes instead of B-Trees

When to Use

• Ad-hoc query environments where users make mistakes
• Large indexes approaching table size
• Uniqueness constraints on large text values (URLs, documents)