The PostgreSQL trek
From SQL basics to expert database administration. Queries, indexes, query optimization, replication, partitioning, and running Postgres reliably in production.
Relational fundamentals & SQL basics
The relational model, primary/foreign keys, normalization, and the SQL you need before touching Postgres specifically.
PostgreSQL setup & administration
Installing Postgres, the configuration file, user management, and the admin tasks DBAs do every day.
Advanced SQL
The SQL features that make complex analytical queries possible: CTEs, window functions, and JSON.
Indexes & query optimization
The most impactful DBA skill: understanding the query planner and making queries fast.
Transactions & concurrency
ACID properties, isolation levels, locking, deadlocks, and the MVCC model that makes Postgres concurrent reads non-blocking.
Stored procedures & functions
PL/pgSQL, triggers, and server-side logic — when to use it and when to keep it in the application layer.
Partitioning & sharding
Managing very large tables: declarative partitioning, partition pruning, and the architectural approaches to scaling beyond one server.
Replication & high availability
Streaming replication, logical replication, failover, and the HA architectures used in production.
VACUUM, autovacuum & bloat
Table bloat, dead tuples, autovacuum tuning, and keeping Postgres healthy under write-heavy workloads.
Security & access control
SSL/TLS, row-level security, column-level privileges, encryption at rest, and Postgres security auditing.
Monitoring & performance tuning
pg_stat_* views, connection pooling, slow query logging, and the dashboards that tell you what Postgres is doing.
Extensions & advanced features
PostGIS for geospatial, TimescaleDB for time-series, pg_vector for AI workloads, and the Postgres ecosystem.
Capstone — operate a production database
Design, deploy, optimize, and document a production Postgres database that you could confidently hand off to an on-call engineer.
Trek complete. What's next?
You've walked the full roadmap. Now ship the capstone, write about it, and share the path with the next engineer who needs it.