Best PostgreSQL Books 2025

Mastering PostgreSQL 15: Advanced techniques to build and manage scalable, reliable, and fault-tolerant database applications, 5th Edition

by Hans Jurgen Schonig. Starting with an introduction to the newly released features of PostgreSQL 15, this hans jürgen schönig book will help you get to grips with PostgreSQL administration and how to build dynamic database solutions for enterprise apps, including designing both physical and technical aspects of the system with the best PostgreSQL book in 2025.

You’ll explore advanced PostgreSQL features, such as logical replication, database clusters, advanced indexing, and user management to manage and maintain your database. You’ll then work with the PostgreSQL optimizer, configure PostgreSQL for high speed, and move from Oracle to PostgreSQL. Among the other skills that the book will help you build, you’ll cover transactions, handling recursions, working with JSON and JSONB data, and setting up a Patroni cluster. It will show you how to improve performance with query optimization. You’ll also focus on managing network security and work with backups and replication while exploring useful PostgreSQL extensions that optimize the performance of large databases.

PostgreSQL 16 Administration Cookbook: Solve real-world Database Administration challenges with 180+ practical recipes and best practices

by Gianni Ciolli , Boriss Mejías , Jimmy Angelakos.
PostgreSQL has seen a huge increase in its customer base in the past few years and is becoming one of the go-to solutions for anyone who has a database-specific challenge. This PostgreSQL book touches on all the fundamentals of Database Administration in a problem-solution format. It is intended to be the perfect desk reference guide.

This new edition focuses on recipes based on the new PostgreSQL 16 release. The additions include handling complex batch loading scenarios with the SQL MERGE statement, security improvements, running Postgres on Kubernetes or with TPA and Ansible, and more. This edition also focuses on certain performance gains, such as query optimization, and the acceleration of specific operations, such as sort. It will help you understand roles, ensuring high availability, concurrency, and replication. It also draws your attention to aspects like validating backups, recovery, monitoring, and scaling aspects. This book will act as a one-stop solution to all your real-world database administration challenges.

By the end of this book, you will be able to manage, monitor, and replicate your PostgreSQL 16 database for efficient administration and maintenance with the best practices from experts.
What you will learn

Discover how to improve batch data loading with the SQL MERGE statement
Use logical replication to apply large transactions in parallel
Improve your back up and recovery performance with server-side compression
Tackle basic to high-end and real-world PostgreSQL challenges with practical recipes
Monitor and fine-tune your database with ease
Learn to navigate the newly introduced features of PostgreSQL 16
Efficiently secure your PostgreSQL database with new and updated features

Learn PostgreSQL: Use, manage, and build secure and scalable databases with PostgreSQL 16

by Luca Ferrari, Enrico Pirozzi will help you to start using PostgreSQL from absolute scratch, helping you to quickly understand the internal workings of the database. With a structured approach and practical examples, go on a journey that covers the basics, from SQL statements and how to run server-side programs, to configuring, managing, securing, and optimizing database performance.

This new edition will not only help you get to grips with all the recent changes within the PostgreSQL ecosystem but will also dig deeper into concepts like partitioning and replication with a fresh set of examples. The book is also equipped with Docker images for each chapter which makes the learning experience faster and easier. Starting with the absolute basics of databases, the book sails through to advanced concepts like window functions, logging, auditing, extending the database, configuration, partitioning, and replication. It will also help you seamlessly migrate your existing database system to PostgreSQL and contains a dedicated chapter on disaster recovery. Each chapter ends with practice questions to test your learning at regular intervals. This is the best PostgreSQL book in 2025.

PostgreSQL: Introduction and Concepts

Authored by a founding member of the PostgreSQL development team. The open source PostgreSQL database is soaring in popularity, as thousands of database and web professionals discover its powerful features, transaction support, performance, and industrial-strength scalability. In this book, a founding member of the PostgreSQL development team introduces everything you need to know to succeed with PostgreSQL, from basic SQL commands through database administration and optimization. PostgreSQL assumes no previous database expertise- it establishes a firm foundation of basic concepts and commands before turning to PostgreSQLs advanced, innovative capabilities. Bruce Momjian walks readers step-by-step from their first database queries through the complex queries needed to solve real-world problems. He presents proper query syntax, then explores the value and use of each key SQL commands in working applications. Learn to manipulate and update databases, customize queries, work with SQL aggregates, use joins, combine SELECTs with subqueries, work with triggers and transactions, import and export data, use PostgreSQL query tools, and more. Discover PostgreSQL techniques for server-side programming and multi-user control, and master PostgreSQLs interfaces to C, C++, ODBC, JDBC, Perl, and Tcl/TK. Youll also find detailed coverage of PostgreSQL administration, including backups, troubleshooting, and access configuration.

PostgreSQL Query Optimization: The Ultimate Guide to Building Efficient Queries

by Henrietta Dombrovskaya, Boris Novikov, Anna Bailliekova helps you write queries that perform fast and deliver results on time. You will learn that query optimization is not a dark art practiced by a small, secretive cabal of sorcerers. You will learn to look at the process of writing a query from the database engine’s point of view, and know how to think like the database optimizer.

The best postgres book begins with a discussion of what a performant system is and progresses to measuring performance and setting performance goals. It introduces different classes of queries and optimization techniques suitable to each, such as the use of indexes and specific join algorithms. You will learn to read and understand query execution plans along with techniques for influencing those plans for better performance. The book also covers advanced topics such as the use of functions and procedures, dynamic SQL, and generated queries. All of these techniques are then used together to produce performant applications, avoiding the pitfalls of object-relational mappers.

PostgreSQL 14 Administration Cookbook: Over 175 proven recipes for database administrators to manage enterprise databases effectively

by Simon Riggs, Gianni Ciolli. PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source database management system with an enviable reputation for high performance and stability. With many new features in its arsenal, PostgreSQL 14 allows you to scale up your PostgreSQL infrastructure. With this book, you’ll take a step-by-step, recipe-based approach to effective PostgreSQL administration.

This postgresql administration books will get you up and running with all the latest features of PostgreSQL 14 while helping you explore the entire database ecosystem. You’ll learn how to tackle a variety of problems and pain points you may face as a database administrator such as creating tables, managing views, improving performance, and securing your database. As you make progress, the book will draw attention to important topics such as monitoring roles, validating backups, regular maintenance, and recovery of your PostgreSQL 14 database. This will help you understand roles, ensuring high availability, concurrency, and replication. Along with updated recipes, this advanced postgresql book touches upon important areas like using generated columns, TOAST compression, PostgreSQL on the cloud. By the end of this PostgreSQL book, you’ll have gained the knowledge you need to manage your PostgreSQL 14 database efficiently, both in the cloud and on-premise.

Essential Postgres: Database Development using PostgreSQL

by Rick Silva gets right to the point, and gives you exposure to the most used – and useful – parts of database development using Postgres version 15. Writing SQL statements, creating tables, functions, triggers, views, as well as data integrity are explained. Tips and insights that the author has picked up over his years of working with Postgres are included with this best book to learn postgresql.

PostgreSQL: Up and Running: A Practical Guide to the Advanced Open Source Database

by Regina Obe, Leo Hsu aids in the understanding and application of this open source database system Not only will you learn about the enterprise-class capabilities in versions 9.5 through 10, but you’ll also learn how to use them. This best postgresql books for beginners in 2025 explains you how to accomplish activities that are difficult or impossible in other databases, using examples throughout. This third edition includes new features such as foreign data wrapper (FDW) enhancements, new full text functions and operator syntax introduced in version 9.6, XML constructs introduced in version 10, query parallelization features introduced in 9.6 and enhanced in 10, and built-in logical replication introduced in Version 10.e. You will:

Learn basic administration tasks such as role management, database creation, backup, and restore
Apply the psql command-line utility and the pgAdmin graphical administration tool
Explore PostgreSQL tables, constraints, and indexes
Learn powerful SQL constructs not generally found in other databases
Use several different languages to write database functions
Tune your queries to run as fast as your hardware will allow
Query external and variegated data sources with foreign data wrappers
Learn how to use built-in replication to replicate data

PostgreSQL Configuration: Best Practices for Performance and Security

by Baji Shaik. Obtain all the skills you need to configure and manage a PostgreSQL database. In this best postgresql book for beginners you will begin by installing and configuring PostgreSQL on a server by focusing on system-level parameter settings before installation. You will also look at key post-installation steps to avoid issues in the future. The basic configuration of PostgreSQL is tuned for compatibility rather than performance. Keeping this in mind, you will fine-tune your PostgreSQL parameters based on your environment and application behavior. You will then get tips to improve database monitoring and maintenance followed by database security for handling sensitive data in PostgreSQL with this best books on postgresql.

PostgreSQL Server Programming Second Edition

PostgreSQL Server Programming by Usama Dar, Hannu Krosing, Jim Mlodgenski, Kirk Roybal is intended for moderate to advanced PostgreSQL database professionals who wish to extend PostgreSQL, using the latest PostgreSQL 9.4 functionality. For a better understanding of this best books to learn postgresql, some knowledge of SQL writing, a basic idea of ​​query tuning, and some experience coding in your preferred language is expected. You will learn:

Write functions in the built-in PL / pgSQL language or the language of your choice
Define and use user-defined functions (UDF)
Update your data with PL / Proxy
Extend PostgreSQL to overcome the limitations of traditional SQL servers
Debugging using NOTIFY and using the PL / pgSQL debugging extensions
Learn about new features in PostgreSQL 9.4, such as event triggers and other relevant enhancements for database server side programming.
Fully integrate the database layer into your development

PostgreSQL 13 Cookbook

The best book for postgresql starts with an introduction to PostgreSQL and its architecture. You’ll cover common and not-so-common challenges faced while designing and managing the database. Next, the book focuses on backup and recovery strategies to ensure your database is steady and achieves optimal performance. Throughout the book, you’ll address key challenges such as maintaining reliability, data integrity, a fault-tolerant environment, a robust feature set, extensibility, consistency, and authentication. This best book on postgresql is for database architects, database developers and administrators, or anyone who wants to become well-versed with PostgreSQL 13 features to plan, manage, and design efficient database solutions.