Best PostgreSQL Programming Guides to Buy in October 2025
PostgreSQL: A Practical Guide for Developers and Data Professionals
PostgreSQL: Up and Running: A Practical Guide to the Advanced Open Source Database
Practical SQL, 2nd Edition: A Beginner's Guide to Storytelling with Data
SQL Pocket Guide: A Guide to SQL Usage
PostgreSQL Query Optimization: The Ultimate Guide to Building Efficient Queries
PostgreSQL DBA (v17, v16, v15, v14, v13) - 2025 2nd Edition: Full PostgreSQL Database Administrator's Guide, Secret DBA skills, High Availability, ... (GitHub link provided) (PostgreSQL 17)
Mastering PostgreSQL 15: Advanced techniques to build and manage scalable, reliable, and fault-tolerant database applications
PostgreSQL DBA (v15, 14, 13 ,12, 11): (GitHub link provided) Full PostgreSQL Database Administrator's Guide, Secret DBA skills, High Availablity, ... Advanced Skills (PostgreSQL 16 and 15)
To create a user-defined function in PostgreSQL, you first need to define the function using the SQL language and then register it in the database. You can use the CREATE FUNCTION statement to define the function with the appropriate parameters and return type. Inside the function, you can write the logic and perform any operations that you want the function to execute. Once the function is defined, you can use the CREATE FUNCTION statement to register the function in the database schema. After registering the function, you can call it like any built-in function in PostgreSQL by providing the necessary parameters. By creating user-defined functions, you can encapsulate complex logic into reusable code blocks and improve the maintainability and readability of your database queries.
How to create a window function in PostgreSQL?
To create a window function in PostgreSQL, you can use the OVER clause in conjunction with an aggregate function such as SUM, AVG, COUNT, etc.
Here is an example of creating a simple window function that calculates the total sales amount for each product category:
SELECT product_category, SUM(sales_amount) OVER (PARTITION BY product_category) AS total_sales FROM sales_data;
In this example, the SUM(sales_amount) OVER (PARTITION BY product_category) is the window function that calculates the total sales amount for each product category. The PARTITION BY clause is used to group the rows by product category before calculating the sum.
You can also use the ORDER BY clause within the OVER clause to specify the order in which the rows should be processed for the window function.
Note that window functions are supported in PostgreSQL version 8.4 and later.
What is the role of PL/pgSQL language in creating user-defined functions in PostgreSQL?
PL/pgSQL is a procedural language extension for PostgreSQL that allows users to create user-defined functions. User-defined functions in PostgreSQL are written in PL/pgSQL language, which provides a rich set of programming features such as variables, loops, conditionals, exception handling, and other control structures.
PL/pgSQL simplifies the process of creating complex and custom logic within database functions, triggers, and stored procedures in PostgreSQL. It allows developers to write procedural code that can manipulate data, perform calculations, and perform various other tasks directly within the database.
Overall, the role of PL/pgSQL language in creating user-defined functions in PostgreSQL is to provide a powerful and flexible tool for developing custom logic within the database, enabling improved performance and maintainability of applications.
How to pass parameters to a user-defined function in PostgreSQL?
In PostgreSQL, you can pass parameters to a user-defined function by simply listing the parameters within the parentheses following the function name. Here is an example of how you can create a user-defined function that takes two parameters and returns their sum:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION add_numbers(num1 INT, num2 INT) RETURNS INT AS $$ BEGIN RETURN num1 + num2; END; $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
In this example, the add_numbers function takes two parameters num1 and num2 of type integer. Within the function body, the parameters are used to calculate the sum, which is then returned.
You can call this function and pass values for the parameters like this:
SELECT add_numbers(5, 10);
This will return 15, which is the sum of the values 5 and 10 that were passed as parameters to the add_numbers function.
By following this syntax, you can easily pass parameters to user-defined functions in PostgreSQL.