Introducing geospatial databases and storage

This section will introduce you to geospatial databases and storage software. Let’s begin the discussion with PostgreSQL and PostGIS.

PostgreSQL and PostGIS

PostgreSQL is an open source, object-relational database system that uses Structured Query Language (SQL). PostgreSQL runs on all major operating systems and has been praised for its architecture, scalability, reliability, and extensibility. While PostgreSQL isn’t spatially enabled by default, it can be spatially enabled through the use of the PostGIS database extender.

PostGIS is a project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). PostGIS adds spatial operations such as distance, area, union, and intersection, as well as spatial geometry, to the standard PostgreSQL database. If you’ve worked with a standard database in the past, then you’re likely familiar with its row-by-column storage structure as well as its ability to join different sets...