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Databases & Data
The most popular blog posts about databases & data on Hacker News. 4,222 posts.
Using FOIA Data and Unix to halve major source of parking tickets
This'll be my first blog post on the internet, ever. Hopefully it's interesting and accurate. Please point out any mistakes if you see any!
Jepsen: PostgreSQL 12.3
PostgreSQL is a major open-source relational database with a 23-year history and a broad range of features. While Jepsen’s work has traditionally focused on distributed systems, our tooling is readily applicable to traditional, single-node databases. In this report, we present the results of applying Jepsen’s…
Database Fundamentals
The fundamental problems a database engineer thinks about in the shower
Choose Postgres queue technology
Introduction Postgres queue tech is a thing of beauty, but far from mainstream. Its relative obscurity is partially attributable to the cargo cult of “scale”. The scalability cult has decreed that there are several queue technologies with greater “scalability” than Postgres, and for that reason alone, Postgres isn’t…
The technology behind GitHub’s new code search
A look at what went into building the world's largest public code search index.
One-liner for running queries against CSV files with SQLite
I figured out how to run a SQL query directly against a CSV file using the sqlite3 command-line utility:
PostgreSQL 9.4 Released
18 DECEMBER 2014: The PostgreSQL Global Development Group announces the release of PostgreSQL 9.4, the latest version of the world's …
Ways to shoot yourself in the foot with Postgres
Personal website of Phil Booth
You'll regret using natural keys
Beating another dead horse.
RethinkDB joins the Linux Foundation: What Happens Next
When the company behind RethinkDB shut down last year, a group of former employees and members of the community formed an interim leadership team and began devising a plan to perpetuate the RethinkDB open-source software project by transitioning it to a community-driven endeavor. Today’s announcement by the Cloud…
Things to know about databases
How Relational Databases Work. This post talks about how indexes and transactions work on the inside of relational databases.
Goodbye integers, hello UUIDv7
The journey Buildkite took from sequential integer primary keys, through randomly generated UUIDs, to adopting time-ordered UUIDv7 — and the database index tradeoffs along the way.
SQLite is all you need for durable workflows
DBOS recently argued that Postgres is all you need for durable execution: if you already trust your database, you do not need a separate orchestration tier. I a…
A Preview of DuckDB v2.0
DuckDB 2.0 is coming this fall. In this post, we preview its headline features: DuckDB as a server, triggers, the VARIANT type, asynchronous I/O, a new SQL parser, a new storage format, and much more.
We don't need data scientists, we need data engineers
After analyzing 1000+ Y-Combinator Companies, I discover there's a huge market need for more engineering-focused data practitioner roles.
New accounts on HN more likely to use em-dashes
I’ve had this sense that HN has gotten absolutely innundated with bots last few months. First most obvious giveaway is the frequency with which you see accounts posting brilliant insights like 13 60 well and t6ctctfuvuh7hguhuig8h88gd to f6gug7h8j8h6fzbuvubt GB I be cugttc fav uhz cb ibub8vgxgvzdrc to bubuvtxfh tf d…
Databases in 2025: A Year in Review
The world tried to kill Andy off but he had to stay alive to to talk about what happened with databases in 2025.
Don't use Hadoop when your data isn't that big
"So, how much experience do you have with Big Data and Hadoop?" they asked me. I told them that I use Hadoop all the time, but rarely for jobs larger than a few TB. I'm basically a big data neophite - I know the concepts, I've written code, but never at scale.
Just use Postgres for everything
Replace Redis, MongoDB, Kafka & more with PostgreSQL. Reduce complexity, boost development speed. Complete guide with real examples.
Microsoft acquires Citus Data (YC S11)
Data and analytics are increasingly at the center of digital transformation, with the most leading-edge enterprises leveraging data to drive customer acquisition and satisfaction, long-term strategic planning, and expansion into net new markets. This digital revolution is placing an incredible demand on technology…
OpenSearch: AWS fork of Elasticsearch and Kibana
Today, we are introducing the OpenSearch project, a community-driven, open source fork of Elasticsearch and Kibana. We are making a long-term investment in OpenSearch to ensure users continue to have a secure, high-quality, fully open source search and analytics suite with a rich roadmap of new and innovative…
The Problem with Perceptual Hashes
Apple just announced that they will use “perceptual hashing” to detect illegal photos on iPhones. I have some experience to share on this technology.
Why I Built Litestream
Despite an exponential increase in computing power, our applications require more machines than ever because of architectural decisions made 25 years ago. You can eliminate much of your complexity and cost by using SQLite & Litestream for your production applications.
Lesser-known Postgres features
Features you already have but may not know about!
Training a 4B model to produce 81% faster query plans than Postgres
...or how to make Qwen learn query optimization via agentic reinforcement learning