Why I, as Someone Who Likes MySQL, Now Want to Recommend PostgreSQL

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A long-time MySQL user explains why they now recommend PostgreSQL for new projects. The post acknowledges that many historical PostgreSQL weaknesses (VACUUM complexity, DDL operations, replication) have become less relevant in the managed cloud era. It then details concrete application-level advantages PostgreSQL still holds: ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING vs INSERT IGNORE, the RETURNING clause for getting back changed rows, more natural VALUES usage in JOINs and UPDATEs, window functions in update processing via CTEs, partial indexes, deferred foreign key constraints, pgvector support, and simpler character set/collation handling. The conclusion is not that MySQL is bad, but that PostgreSQL offers clearer advantages for application implementation today.

#database

#sql

#postgresql

#mysql

#pgvector

Mar 17•17m read time•From dev.to

Table of contents

What used to be considered disadvantages of PostgreSQL has become much less significant Even so, PostgreSQL is stronger for application implementation First, the things MySQL 8 added and narrowed the gap on ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING is not a replacement for INSERT IGNORE RETURNING is very powerful VALUES helps in real implementation Being able to bring window functions into update processing is powerful Partial indexes are a clear feature difference Foreign keys are much better in PostgreSQL In MySQL, you cannot do vector operations Character sets and collations are still more complicated in MySQL Summary