GIN index
A GIN index is a PostgreSQL generalized inverted index that maps components of composite values to rows containing them.
Just Use Postgres!
GIN is a PostgreSQL index access method designed for indexing composite values such as arrays and full-text search vectors.
- How it is used
- Indexes JSONB structures and tsvector lexemes to accelerate containment, key-existence, and full-text search queries.
- How deep it goes
- Explains extracted index entries, row references, operator classes, bitmap plans, and heap rechecks, but omits implementation-level maintenance internals.
- Examples
- Demonstrates pizza-order JSONB searches, jsonb_path_ops size comparisons, and movie searches over normalized historical and fight lexemes.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via PostgreSQL SQL by creating GIN indexes and verifying Bitmap Index Scan plans with EXPLAIN.
PostgreSQL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
GIN is a PostgreSQL index access method designed for efficiently indexing composite values such as arrays and JSONB documents.
- How it is used
- Deploys GIN for efficient full-text search and JSONB containment when B-tree indexing is unsuitable.
- How deep it goes
- Explains index selection through SQL definitions, EXPLAIN plans, timings, and size comparisons, without covering GIN internals.
- Examples
- Uses an arXiv JSONB dataset, article-title searches, abstract-size failure, DOI containment, and DOI equality queries.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via PostgreSQL SQL by matching GIN definitions to full-text or JSONB containment predicates.
Read how PostgreSQL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them explains GIN index →
Related concepts
- tsvectorused by · tsvector is a PostgreSQL data type representing normalized searchable lexemes extracted from text, optionally including their positions.
- information retrievaluses · Information retrieval is the process of locating and selecting relevant information from an available collection in response to a query or information need.
- bitmap index scanuses · A bitmap index scan is a query-plan operation that uses an index to build a bitmap of matching row locations before retrieving the corresponding table rows.
- GiST indexalternative to · A GiST index is a PostgreSQL extensible index structure that supports generalized searches over diverse data types and predicates.
- index typekind of · An index type is a database indexing method defined by the structure and access strategy it uses to support data retrieval.
- indexingkind of · Indexing is the organization or use of positions, keys, or lookup structures to identify and retrieve selected data or elements.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.