about this book
In February 2023, I gave a talk titled “Don’t Do This” at the annual FOSDEM (https://fosdem.org) conference in Brussels, Belgium. The talk explored some of the common mistakes, pitfalls, and misconceptions that PostgreSQL users can face and discussed possible ways to undo them or work around them. The talk was well received, and I gave it at two further conferences. Afterward, I was left with the impression that there was much more to talk about on this subject. However, the volume of material was such that I no longer felt it fit the conference talk format well. The search for a better medium for this content is what spurred the discussions that eventually led to the writing of PostgreSQL Mistakes, my first book.
Spoiler alert: there are more mistakes than those listed in this book! I like to think that there is literally nothing that you cannot get wrong. But these are the most common or most dangerous mistakes that you are likely to encounter.