Chapter 2. Server Programming Environment

You have had a chance to get acquainted with the general idea of using PostgreSQL, but now we are going to answer the question of why anyone would choose PostgreSQL as a development platform. As much as I like to believe that it's an easy decision for everyone, it's not.

For starters, let's get rid of the optimistic idea that anyone chooses a database platform for technical reasons. Sure, we would all like to think that we are objective, and we base our decisions on a preponderance of the technical evidence. This preponderance of evidence then indicates which features are available and relevant to our application. We would then proceed to make a weighted choice in favor of the most advantageous platform, and use the balance of the evidence to create workarounds and alternatives where our choice falls short. The fact is, we don't really understand all of the requirements of the application until we are halfway through the development cycle. Here are...