PostgreSQLs

PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) known for standards compliance, data integrity, and extensibility. It originated at the University of California, Berkeley during the 1980s as POSTGRES and was later renamed PostgreSQL in 1996 to reflect its support for SQL while retaining the POSTGRES heritage. The plural form "PostgreSQLs" is not used in official terminology; the product is referred to as PostgreSQL.

Key features include ACID transactions, multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), and a robust query planner. It supports extensive extensibility through extensions, procedural languages (such as PL/pgSQL), and custom data types. It offers multiple index types (B-tree, GiST, GIN, BRIN, SP-GiST), powerful JSON/JSONB support, and reliable replication, including streaming and synchronous replication. Foreign data wrappers allow access to external databases, and table partitioning helps scale large datasets. Parallel query execution and just-in-time compilation enhance performance on modern hardware.

PostgreSQL runs on major operating systems including Linux, Windows, and macOS, and is distributed under the PostgreSQL License, a liberal open-source license similar to the MIT license. It is widely used in web applications, data warehousing, and geospatial systems, often in combination with extensions like PostGIS for geographic information systems. The project is maintained by a global community and supported by organizations of various sizes through a collaborative development model.