PostgreSQL Overview

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Describe what PostgreSQL is, at a high level
• Explain why this course is built around it

💡 Why this matters: Every lesson from here on runs against a real PostgreSQL database. It’s worth knowing exactly what that software is before installing it.

What Is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL (“Postgres” for short) is a free, open source RDBMS, originally developed at the University of California, Berkeley, and actively developed ever since by a large open source community. It’s one of the most widely used databases in the world, running in projects everywhere from small personal apps to large-scale production systems at major companies.

Why This Course Uses PostgreSQL

• Free and open source. No license cost, and available on every major operating system.
• Standards-compliant. PostgreSQL closely follows the official SQL standard, so the SQL you learn here transfers well to other RDBMSs.
• Feature-rich. Beyond core SQL, PostgreSQL supports a large set of advanced features, some covered later in this course, that make it a genuinely professional-grade database, not a simplified teaching tool.
• Widely used in the real world. Skills learned here apply directly to real jobs, PostgreSQL shows up constantly in backend development and data work.

Try It

1. In your own words, explain what PostgreSQL is.
2. Name two reasons this course specifically chose PostgreSQL over another RDBMS.

Recap

• PostgreSQL is a free, open source, standards-compliant RDBMS, widely used in real production systems.
• This course uses it because it’s free, standards-compliant, feature-rich, and directly relevant to real work.

Next lesson: actually installing PostgreSQL on your own machine.