Jim Mlodgenski - PostgreSQL Server Programming

Hannu Krosing was a PostgreSQL user before it was rewritten to use SQL as its main query language in 1995. So, he has both the historic perspective of its development and almost 20 years of experience using it for solving various real-life problems.

Hannu was the first Database Administrator and Database Architect at Skype, where he invented the sharding language PL/Proxy that allows scaling the user database to work with billions of users.

Since leaving Skype at the end of 2006about a year after it was bought up by eBayHannu has been working as a PostgreSQL consultant with 2ndQuadrant, the premier PostgreSQL consultancy with global reach and local presence in most of the world.

Hannu has co-authored another Packt Publishing book, PostgreSQL 9 Administration Cookbook, together with one of the main PostgreSQL developers, Simon Riggs.

I want to sincerely thank my wife Evelyn for her support while writing this book.

Jim Mlodgenski is the CTO of OpenSCG, a professional services company focused on leveraging open source technologies for strategic advantage. He was formerly the CEO of StormDB, a database cloud company focused on horizontal scalability. Prior to StormDB, Jim held deeply technical roles at Cirrus Technology, Inc., EnterpriseDB, and Fusion Technologies.

Jim is also a fervent advocate of PostgreSQL. He is a member of the board of the United States PostgreSQL Association, as well as being a part of the organizing teams of the New York PostgreSQL User Group and Philadelphia PostgreSQL User Groups.

Kirk Roybal has been active in the PostgreSQL community since 1998. He has helped to organize user groups in Houston, Dallas, and Bloomington, IL. He has mentored many junior database administrators and provided cross training for senior database engineers. He has provided solutions using PostgreSQL for reporting, business intelligence, data warehousing, applications, and development support.

Kirk saw the value of PostgreSQL when the first small business customer asked for a web application. At the time, competitive database products were either extremely immature, or cost prohibitive. Kirk has stood by the choice of PostgreSQL for many years now. His expertise is founded on keeping up with features and capabilities as they have become available.

Writing a book has been a unique experience for me. Many people fantasize about it, few start one, and even fewer get to publication. I am proud to be part of a team that actually made it to the book shelf (itself an diminishing breed). Thank you Sarah Cullington from Packt Publishing for giving me a chance to participate in the project. I imagine that the PostgreSQL community will be better served by this information, and I hope that they receive this as a reward for the time that they have invested in me over the years.

A book only has the value that the readers give it. Thank you to the PostgreSQL community for all of the technical, personal, and professional development help you have given me. The PostgreSQL community is a great bunch of people, and I have enjoyed the company of many of them. I hope to contribute more to this project in the future, and I hope you find my contributions as valuable as I find yours.

Thank you to my family. Firstly, for giving me a reason to succeed. Also, thank you for listening to the gobbledygook and nodding appreciatively. Have you ever had your family ask you what you were doing, and answered with a function? Try it. No, then again, don't try it. They may just have you involuntarily checked in somewhere.

Gabriele Bartolini has been a long time open-source programmer and has been writing Linux/Unix applications in C and C++ for over 10 years, specializing in search engines and web analytics with large databases.

Gabriele has a degree in Statistics from the University of Florence. His areas of expertise are data mining and data warehousing, having worked on web traffic analysis in Australia and Italy.

Gabriele is a consultant with 2ndQuadrant and an active member of the international PostgreSQL community.

Gabriele currently lives in Prato, a small but vibrant city located in the northern part of Tuscany, Italy. His second home is Melbourne, Australia, where he has studied at Monash University and worked in the ICT sector.

His hobbies include calcio (football or soccer, depending on which part of the world you come from) and playing his Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.

Thanks to my family, in particular Cathy who encourages always something new to learn.