Master PostgreSQL: Complete Course Outline (Basic to Advanced with Latest Features)

🌟 PostgreSQL Database Design & Development Course Outline (Beginner to Advanced)

Introduction

PostgreSQL, also known as Postgres, is one of the world’s most advanced open-source relational databases. With each release, PostgreSQL introduces powerful features for scalability, high availability, data security, and advanced analytics. This detailed course outline takes you from the basics of SQL to enterprise-level database management and optimization with the latest PostgreSQL versions (15, 16, and upcoming 17). Whether you are a beginner or an advanced developer, this structured roadmap ensures mastery of PostgreSQL for real-world database design, development, and performance tuning.

📘 Course Outline – PostgreSQL (Basic to Advanced)

Module 1: Introduction to PostgreSQL

Overview of RDBMS & PostgreSQL
Installing PostgreSQL (Windows, Linux, Docker)
pgAdmin & psql command-line basics
PostgreSQL architecture & process model
Database, schema, and table concepts

Module 2: Database Design Fundamentals

Data types in PostgreSQL (NUMERIC, JSONB, UUID, etc.)
Primary keys, foreign keys, unique constraints
Normalization & denormalization concepts
Index basics (B-Tree, Hash, GiST, GIN)
Designing schemas for performance

Module 3: SQL Basics in PostgreSQL

Creating, reading, updating, and deleting (CRUD)
SELECT statements with filters, ORDER BY, LIMIT
Aggregate functions (SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, MAX)
Joins (INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL OUTER, CROSS)
Using DISTINCT, BETWEEN, LIKE, and IN

Module 4: Advanced SQL in PostgreSQL

Window functions (ROW_NUMBER, RANK, PARTITION BY)
Common Table Expressions (CTEs)
Recursive queries
Set operations (UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT)
Pivoting and unpivoting data

Module 5: Advanced Data Types & Features

JSON & JSONB data type for semi-structured data
Arrays and hstore
UUIDs for unique identifiers
Full-text search
Range types (int4range, tsrange, daterange)

Module 6: Functions & Stored Procedures

PL/pgSQL basics
Creating and executing functions
Stored procedures with transaction control
Triggers & event triggers
Error handling & exception management

Module 7: Transactions & Concurrency Control

ACID properties in PostgreSQL
Explicit vs. implicit transactions
Isolation levels (READ COMMITTED, SERIALIZABLE)
Locking mechanisms (row-level, advisory locks)
Deadlock detection & prevention

Module 8: Indexing & Performance Optimization

Advanced indexing (GIN, GiST, BRIN, Bloom)
Covering indexes & partial indexes
Query execution plan analysis (EXPLAIN, ANALYZE)
VACUUM, ANALYZE, REINDEX for maintenance
Partitioning & sharding techniques

Module 9: Security & User Management

Roles, users, and groups
Grant & revoke permissions
Row-level security (RLS)
Data encryption (pgcrypto)
SSL/TLS setup for secure connections

Module 10: Backup, Restore & High Availability

Backup with pg_dump, pg_basebackup
PITR (Point-in-time recovery)
Streaming replication setup
Logical replication & publication/subscription
Failover and high availability (Patroni, PgBouncer, HAProxy)

Module 11: Extensions & Advanced Tools

Popular PostgreSQL extensions:
- PostGIS (geospatial)
- pg_partman (partitioning)
- pg_stat_statements (performance monitoring)
- TimescaleDB (time-series data)
Using Foreign Data Wrappers (FDWs) for external connections

Module 12: PostgreSQL Latest Features (15, 16, Upcoming 17)

PostgreSQL 15: MERGE SQL command, improved performance, parallel query improvements
PostgreSQL 16: Better query parallelization, monitoring enhancements, JSON improvements
PostgreSQL 17 (upcoming): AI/ML integration improvements, cloud-native enhancements, advanced logical replication features
Compatibility with cloud providers (AWS RDS, Azure, Google Cloud SQL)

Module 13: Enterprise-Grade Features

Multi-tenancy in PostgreSQL
Connection pooling (PgBouncer, Pgpool-II)
Data federation with FDWs
Advanced logging & monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana)
Scaling strategies for enterprise workloads

Conclusion

PostgreSQL is more than just a relational database—it’s a powerhouse for modern applications supporting structured, semi-structured, and analytical workloads. From database design to enterprise-grade replication and performance tuning, this course ensures a solid foundation for developers, DBAs, and data engineers alike. With PostgreSQL’s latest features and ecosystem, learners will be equipped to handle real-world challenges and build future-ready applications.