Postgre Mastery Roadmap(2026 Edition)
Beginner Level (0% โ 20%)
Core SQL foundations and PostgreSQL architecture overview.
๐พ Absolute Basics
- 1. What is a Database and RDBMS concepts
- 2. SQL vs NoSQL comparisons
- 3. OLTP vs OLAP workloads
- 4. ACID properties and transactions
- 5. PostgreSQL architecture overview
๐ฅ Must Learn SQL Basics
- 1. SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING queries
- 2. ORDER BY and LIMIT operations
- 3. INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE statements
- 4. Basic Joins: INNER, LEFT, RIGHT
- 5. Table creation with CREATE TABLE
๐ ๏ธ Tools to Practice
- 1. PgAdmin or Beekeeper Studio
- 2. PostgreSQL on Docker
- 3. Local setup using PostgreSQL 16+
- 4. Command line interface basics
Intermediate Level (20% โ 40%)
Master advanced SQL operations, joins, and PostgreSQL data types.
๐ฅ Master JOIN Operations
- 1. FULL JOIN for complete result sets
- 2. CROSS JOIN for Cartesian products
- 3. SELF JOIN for hierarchical data
- 4. LATERAL JOIN (PostgreSQL superpower)
๐ Aggregates & Window Functions
- 1. SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, MAX aggregations
- 2. Ranking: ROW_NUMBER, DENSE_RANK, RANK
- 3. OVER(PARTITION BY ...) window operations
- 4. LAG, LEAD, and cumulative functions
๐ Constraints & Data Integrity
- 1. Primary key constraints
- 2. Foreign key relationships
- 3. Unique constraints
- 4. Check constraints and Not Null
- 5. Data validation at database level
๐ PostgreSQL Data Types (In-Depth)
- 1. Numeric types: INT, BIGINT, DECIMAL, FLOAT
- 2. Text types: VARCHAR, TEXT, CHAR
- 3. Boolean, Arrays, and Range types
- 4. JSON & JSONB for document storage
- 5. ENUM and Composite types
Advanced Level (40% โ 60%)
Deep dive into PostgreSQL internals, indexing, and query planning.
โ๏ธ PostgreSQL Architecture Deep Dive
- 1. Shared buffers and memory management
- 2. WAL (Write-Ahead Log) mechanism
- 3. Checkpoint process and tuning
- 4. Background workers and processes
- 5. Vacuum & AutoVacuum operations
- 6. MVCC (Multi-Version Concurrency Control)
๐ Indexing (Super Important)
- 1. B-Tree Index (default, most-used)
- 2. Hash Index for equality operations
- 3. GIN Index (JSONB, full-text search)
- 4. GiST Index (geospatial, ltree)
- 5. BRIN Index (large sequential datasets)
- 6. Partial Index and Expression Index
- 7. Know when to use what โ industry critical
๐ฅ Query Planning & EXPLAIN
- 1. EXPLAIN for query execution plans
- 2. EXPLAIN ANALYZE for actual runtime statistics
- 3. EXPLAIN BUFFERS for memory usage
- 4. Identify: Seq Scan, Index Scan, Bitmap Scan
- 5. Understand: Nested Loops, Hash Joins, Merge Joins
- 6. Reading and interpreting query costs
Advanced Level (60% โ 75%)
Master parameter tuning, query optimization, and partitioning strategies.
๐ง Parameter Tuning (postgresql.conf)
- 1. shared_buffers for cache sizing
- 2. work_mem for sort operations
- 3. maintenance_work_mem for index creation
- 4. effective_cache_size estimation
- 5. checkpoint_timeout and checkpoint tuning
- 6. max_parallel_workers for parallelism
- 7. WAL tuning: wal_buffers, min_wal_size, max_wal_size
๐ฅ Query Optimization Techniques
- 1. Reduce nested queries and subqueries
- 2. Avoid SELECT * in production queries
- 3. Use correct indexes for query patterns
- 4. Partition large tables strategically
- 5. Normalize/denormalize smartly for use case
- 6. Optimize joins and join order
- 7. Tune autovacuum for write-heavy workloads
โก Partitioning
- 1. Range partitioning for time-series data
- 2. List partitioning for categorical data
- 3. Hash partitioning for even distribution
- 4. Subpartitioning for complex hierarchies
- 5. When partitioning hurts performance
- 6. Partition pruning and constraint exclusion
Production Level (75% โ 85%)
Mission-critical backup strategies and disaster recovery planning.
๐ฆ Types of Backup
- 1. SQL dump backup (pg_dump, pg_restore)
- 2. Physical backup (pg_basebackup)
- 3. WAL archiving for continuous backup
- 4. PITR (Point In Time Recovery) setup
- 5. Incremental backup strategies
๐ Disaster Recovery
- 1. PITR recovery procedures
- 2. Restore from WAL segments
- 3. Rebuilding corrupt databases
- 4. Testing recovery procedures regularly
- 5. Recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO)
Production Level (85% โ 95%)
Build resilient, highly available PostgreSQL clusters.
๐ Replication Types
- 1. Physical replication (streaming)
- 2. Logical replication for selective data
- 3. Synchronous vs Asynchronous replication
- 4. Cascading replication setup
- 5. Replication slots and monitoring
๐๏ธ Clustering & HA Tools (2026 Demand)
- 1. Patroni for automated failover
- 2. Pgpool-II for connection pooling and load balancing
- 3. repmgr for replication management
- 4. Stolon for cloud-native HA
- 5. TimescaleDB clustering for time-series
โ๏ธ Failover Strategies
- 1. Automatic failover configuration
- 2. Manual failover procedures
- 3. Switchover for planned maintenance
- 4. Failback after primary recovery
- 5. Testing failover scenarios
Expert Level (95% โ 110%)
Implement enterprise-grade security and compliance measures.
๐ Security Concepts
- 1. Role-based access control (RBAC)
- 2. Row-level security (RLS) policies
- 3. Column-level masking for sensitive data
- 4. SSL/TLS encryption for connections
- 5. Database encryption at rest
- 6. Password policies and authentication methods
๐ Compliance Standards
- 1. GDPR compliance for EU data
- 2. HIPAA for healthcare data
- 3. PCI-DSS for payment card data
- 4. SOC2 logging and auditing requirements
- 5. Data retention and deletion policies
๐ Auditing Tools
- 1. pgaudit for comprehensive auditing
- 2. pg_stat_statements for query tracking
- 3. EDB audit for enterprise features
- 4. Custom audit triggers and logging
- 5. Log analysis and monitoring
Expert Level (110% โ 130%)
Integrate PostgreSQL with modern DevOps practices and tools.
๐งช CI/CD Integration
- 1. GitHub Actions for database tests
- 2. Flyway for version-controlled migrations
- 3. Liquibase for database change management
- 4. Prisma Migrate for modern workflows
- 5. Django migrations for Python projects
- 6. Automated schema testing and validation
๐ณ Docker & Kubernetes
- 1. PostgreSQL on Docker containers
- 2. StatefulSets in Kubernetes
- 3. Persistent volumes for data storage
- 4. pgBackRest with Kubernetes
- 5. Container orchestration patterns
- 6. Health checks and readiness probes
Cloud Mastery (130% โ 150%)
Master cloud-managed PostgreSQL services across major providers.
โ๏ธ Cloud Offerings You Must Learn
- 1. AWS RDS for PostgreSQL
- 2. AWS Aurora PostgreSQL (MySQL-compatible)
- 3. Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL
- 4. Azure PostgreSQL Flexible Server
- 5. Neon Serverless PostgreSQL (2026 Hot)
- 6. Supabase (popular for startups)
๐๏ธ Cloud Features & Operations
- 1. Automated backups and snapshots
- 2. Read replicas for scaling reads
- 3. Parameter groups and configuration
- 4. Monitoring: CloudWatch, GCP Ops, Azure Monitor
- 5. Scaling: storage, IOPS, compute
- 6. Multi-AZ and cross-region replication
Specialization (150% โ 180%)
Advanced PostgreSQL features and specialized use cases.
๐ Real Advanced Stuff
- 1. PostGIS for geospatial data and queries
- 2. Full-Text Search with tsvector and tsquery
- 3. LTree for hierarchical data structures
- 4. PL/pgSQL Functions & Triggers programming
- 5. Custom Extensions development
- 6. Logical decoding + Kafka streaming integration
- 7. Performance profiling with auto_explain
- 8. Hyper-optimized schema design patterns
Industry Ready (180% โ Production)
Build real-world production-grade PostgreSQL projects.
โ Project 1 โ E-commerce Database
- 1. Normalized schema: products, orders, payments, reviews
- 2. Comprehensive indexing strategy
- 3. Stored procedures for business logic
- 4. Triggers and audit trails
โ Project 2 โ Real-Time Analytics Database
- 1. Partitioned tables for time-series data
- 2. Incremental updates and aggregations
- 3. TimescaleDB for hypertables
- 4. Continuous aggregates and retention policies
โ Project 3 โ Full-Text Search Engine
- 1. GIN indexes with tsvector
- 2. Ranking and relevance scoring
- 3. Multilingual search support
- 4. Highlighting and snippet generation
โ Project 4 โ Financial Transactions DB
- 1. Constraint-heavy design for data integrity
- 2. Multi-row atomic operations with transactions
- 3. Audit logs and compliance tracking
- 4. Double-entry bookkeeping patterns
โ Project 5 โ Microservices + PostgreSQL
- 1. Connection pooling via PgBouncer
- 2. Database per service pattern
- 3. Saga pattern for distributed transactions
- 4. Event sourcing with logical replication
โ Project 6 โ Production-Grade HA Cluster
- 1. Patroni for cluster management
- 2. Multi-node replication setup
- 3. Automatic failover testing
- 4. Load balancing and read replica routing
โ Project 7 โ Backup/Restore Automation
- 1. pg_basebackup automation scripts
- 2. Cron jobs with S3/cloud storage
- 3. PITR testing and validation
- 4. Disaster recovery runbooks
๐ Final Tips to Become Postgre Engineer
Congratulations! You've completed Postgre Engineer Roadmap and are ready to take on professional challenges.