Learning PostgreSQL

Why did I learn PostgreSQL Simple, I needed to expand my knowledge of DBA tools, and PostreSQL in my honest opinion is a way better tool than Microsoft SQL Server. I'm currently a student in my 4th semester and we were required to use SQL Server the entire semester, and it really bugged me with how "outdated" it looked and functioned. I'm not sure if its just me who thinks that, but Postgre's dashboard is just miles ahead and simple to learn on your own. It also includes more built in functionality from what I've seen. I played around with the tool for a bit before searching for more info online to learn more. Oh yeah and its open sourced and free. We love free! I fell in love with it after a few weeks of learning it, that little elephant is a great tool for SQL based DBs. What did I create with it? I haven't done much practically so far but I have made a planetary database. It utilizes a PostgreSQL DB to display planets and their information in a table on a web app. The web app uses NodeJS as the foundation and simple HTML and CSS to display everything. You can also click each planet name to view an image of it, more info about it, and even a weather simulator in the background. The database itself was easy enough to set up, offering many tools to auto generate queries and INSERT statements. Adding tables is literally as simple as 123, you right click your schema and just create the table with the properties you need. While I did struggle a bit integrating it within a web app (I'm still a beginner), the community support was good enough for me to figure it out. Postgre's JS library is super simple after you actually figure it out. A quick example is setting up a pool to cache your database connections, making it easier to query directly from the web app. const { Pool } = require('pg'); require('dotenv').config(); const pool = new Pool({ user: `${process.env.USER}`, host: 'localhost', database: `${process.env.DATABASE}`, password: `${process.env.PASSWORD}`, port: `${process.env.DB_PORT}`, }); module.exports = pool; I am still very new to PostgreSQL but as of right now I think its one of the easier DBA tools I've learned. If anyone has other recommendations, Id be happy to check them out!

May 4, 2025 - 21:40

Why did I learn PostgreSQL

Simple, I needed to expand my knowledge of DBA tools, and PostreSQL in my honest opinion is a way better tool than Microsoft SQL Server. I'm currently a student in my 4th semester and we were required to use SQL Server the entire semester, and it really bugged me with how "outdated" it looked and functioned. I'm not sure if its just me who thinks that, but Postgre's dashboard is just miles ahead and simple to learn on your own. It also includes more built in functionality from what I've seen. I played around with the tool for a bit before searching for more info online to learn more. Oh yeah and its open sourced and free. We love free!

I fell in love with it after a few weeks of learning it, that little elephant is a great tool for SQL based DBs.

What did I create with it?

I haven't done much practically so far but I have made a planetary database. It utilizes a PostgreSQL DB to display planets and their information in a table on a web app. The web app uses NodeJS as the foundation and simple HTML and CSS to display everything. You can also click each planet name to view an image of it, more info about it, and even a weather simulator in the background. The database itself was easy enough to set up, offering many tools to auto generate queries and INSERT statements. Adding tables is literally as simple as 123, you right click your schema and just create the table with the properties you need. While I did struggle a bit integrating it within a web app (I'm still a beginner), the community support was good enough for me to figure it out. Postgre's JS library is super simple after you actually figure it out. A quick example is setting up a pool to cache your database connections, making it easier to query directly from the web app.

const { Pool } = require('pg');
require('dotenv').config();

const pool = new Pool({
  user: `${process.env.USER}`, 
  host: 'localhost',
  database: `${process.env.DATABASE}`,  
  password: `${process.env.PASSWORD}`, 
  port: `${process.env.DB_PORT}`,
});

module.exports = pool;

I am still very new to PostgreSQL but as of right now I think its one of the easier DBA tools I've learned. If anyone has other recommendations, Id be happy to check them out!