How to Choose PostgreSQL over MariaDB in PostgreSQL

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Why should I use PostgreSQL instead of MariaDB?

Explains clear, practical reasons to favor PostgreSQL instead of MariaDB for modern applications.

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Description

Why choose PostgreSQL over MariaDB?

PostgreSQL offers richer SQL, stronger data integrity, and broader ecosystem support than MariaDB.

What core features give PostgreSQL an edge?

PostgreSQL ships with native JSONB, full-text search, window functions, Common Table Expressions, and advanced indexing (GIN, GiST, BRIN). These capabilities come standard—no extra plugins—reducing operational overhead while enabling complex analytics directly in SQL.

How does PostgreSQL ensure stricter data integrity?

PostgreSQL follows true ACID semantics with multi-version concurrency control (MVCC). It supports CHECK constraints on expressions, DEFERRABLE foreign keys, exclusion constraints, and SERIALIZABLE isolation that prevents phantom reads. These guardrails make financial and analytics workloads safer.

Why is PostgreSQL better for complex queries?

The planner handles recursive CTEs, parallel query, and sophisticated join strategies. Query hints aren’t usually required. In practice this means faster ad-hoc reports on large “Orders” and “OrderItems” tables without manual tuning.

Does PostgreSQL scale vertically and horizontally?

Yes. Vertical scaling benefits from shared-buffer architecture, while logical replication, partitioning, and extensions like Citus enable horizontal sharding. Solutions such as Patroni and Stolon simplify high availability.

How strong is the PostgreSQL ecosystem?

Extensive drivers, ORMs, and extensions (PostGIS, TimescaleDB) exist. Managed offerings on AWS (RDS/Aurora), GCP (Cloud SQL, AlloyDB), and Azure make spin-up trivial, reducing total cost of ownership.

When might MariaDB still fit?

Lightweight LAMP stacks needing MySQL wire-compatibility, minimal feature set, or existing MySQL replication topologies may prefer MariaDB. Otherwise PostgreSQL’s richer SQL and tooling win.

How to migrate an ecommerce database?

1. Export MariaDB schema via mysqldump --no-data. 2. Convert types (e.g., INT(11) → INTEGER) using pgloader. 3. Load data with pgloader mysql://user@host/db pgsql://user@host/db. 4. Verify row counts on tables like “Customers” and “Orders”. 5. Update application drivers to PostgreSQL.

Best practices after switching

Enable log_min_duration_statement for slow query logs, create GIN indexes on JSONB columns, and run ANALYZE regularly. Use role-based access control instead of single application users.

Common pitfalls

Assuming TEXT is case-insensitive (it isn’t); forgetting that identifiers are folded to lowercase unless quoted.

Why How to Choose PostgreSQL over MariaDB in PostgreSQL is important

How to Choose PostgreSQL over MariaDB in PostgreSQL Example Usage


-- Identify top 5 products by order quantity in the last 30 days
WITH recent AS (
    SELECT oi.product_id, SUM(oi.quantity) AS qty
    FROM OrderItems oi
    JOIN Orders o ON o.id = oi.order_id
    WHERE o.order_date >= CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '30 days'
    GROUP BY oi.product_id
)
SELECT p.id, p.name, r.qty
FROM recent r
JOIN Products p ON p.id = r.product_id
ORDER BY r.qty DESC
LIMIT 5;

How to Choose PostgreSQL over MariaDB in PostgreSQL Syntax


-- Native JSONB example (not available in MariaDB)
CREATE TABLE Products (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    name TEXT NOT NULL,
    price NUMERIC(10,2) NOT NULL,
    stock INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
    specs JSONB -- store dynamic attributes
);

-- UPSERT syntax
INSERT INTO Products (name, price, stock)
VALUES ('Wireless Mouse', 24.99, 50)
ON CONFLICT (name) DO UPDATE
    SET price = EXCLUDED.price,
        stock = Products.stock + EXCLUDED.stock;

-- Window function for customer lifetime value
SELECT c.id,
       c.name,
       SUM(o.total_amount) AS lifetime_spend,
       RANK() OVER (ORDER BY SUM(o.total_amount) DESC) AS spend_rank
FROM Customers c
JOIN Orders o ON o.customer_id = c.id
GROUP BY c.id, c.name;

Common Mistakes

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is PostgreSQL slower than MariaDB?

No. For complex joins, JSON operations, and analytical queries, PostgreSQL is often faster thanks to its advanced planner and indexes.

Can PostgreSQL handle my existing MySQL/MariaDB app?

Yes. ORMs like Sequelize, Django ORM, and Hibernate support PostgreSQL. Data type tweaks and identifier quoting usually suffice.

Do I lose anything by leaving MariaDB?

Only MySQL wire-protocol compatibility. Most modern drivers support PostgreSQL, and feature parity is higher on the PostgreSQL side.

Want to learn about other SQL terms?

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dbt utils

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dbt is an open-source framework that lets data teams transform raw warehouse tables into tested, documented, production-ready datasets using version-controlled SQL.

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