Juggling multiple databases slows every project and drains precious developer mental bandwidth. Imagine serving analytics, AI, and search from the same Postgres engine. Modern Postgres already solves these challenges, you only need the roadmap. Skip encyclopedic references, jump straight into working code and clear patterns. Build streaming, geospatial, and time series features faster than ever before. Stop overthinking your stack, just use Postgres and ship with confidence.
- Use-case chapters (eCommerce, streaming, IoT): Translate abstract concepts into relatable, production tested patterns.
- Modern SQL techniques (CTEs, window functions, JSON): Write concise queries, reduce application code complexity.
- Extension deep-dives (PostGIS, pgvector, timescaledb): Add AI, geospatial, and time-series power without extra infrastructure.
- Performance primers (indexes, partitioning, tuning): Keep latency low and throughput high for demanding workloads.
- Ready-to-run code snippets and Docker files: Accelerate learning, eliminate environment setup roadblocks.
Just Use Postgres! by veteran engineer Denis Magda is a concise, example-driven book that shows working developers exactly how to unlock Postgres for modern, multifaceted applications.
Each chapter tackles a real product scenario, from shopping carts to music streams and IoT sensors. Magda guides you through schema choices, index strategies, and powerhouse extensions using clear diagrams and runnable code.
Finish the book ready to build AI-enhanced, searchable, analytics-ready services on a single Postgres instance. Save licensing costs, simplify deployments, and slash maintenance by consolidating diverse workloads into one robust database.
Perfect for developers who know basic SQL and now need production-grade scalability, search, and AI capabilities.
Table of Contents:
PART 1. POSTGRES AS RELATIONAL DATABASE
1 MEETING POSTGRES
2 STANDARD RDBMS CAPABILITIES
3 MODERN SQL
4 INDEXES
PART 2. CORE POSTGRES BEYOND RELATIONAL
5 POSTGRES AND JSON
6 POSTGRES FOR FULL-TEXT SEARCH
PART 3. EXTENSIONS AND BROADER ECOSYSTEM
7 POSTGRES EXTENSIONS
8 POSTGRES FOR GENERATIVE AI
9 POSTGRES FOR TIME SERIES
10 POSTGRES FOR GEOSPATIAL
11 POSTGRES AS MESSAGE QUEUE
APPENDIX
APPENDIX A: FIVE OPTIMIZATION TIPS
APPENDIX B: WHEN NOT TO USE POSTGRES
About the Author :
Denis Magda is a database engineer and former Java platform lead known for making complex data systems approachable. With two decades of building and scaling infrastructure at Sun, Oracle, and multiple startups, Denis brings practical clarity and code-first teaching to every page. He distills his Postgres expertise into concise guidance that gets developers shipping faster and smarter.
Review :
- This book is a whirlwind tour of powerful postgres features you might think you need another system for. You might not need Redis/Kafka/ElasticSearch/etc, and this book can help you see why.
Nate Clark, Software Engineer, Mercury
- From elegant recursive SQL queries to leveraging JSON's flexibility and transforming Postgres into an AI powered movie recommendation engine, this book bridges traditional database concepts with trending applications.
Deep Bodra, Software Developer Engineer, Audible
