Create a PostgreSQL REST API with DreamFactory

Integrations » Databases » PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) with a reputation for speed and efficiency when dealing with complex, high-volume data operations. This highly extensible database management platform also supports a wide variety of data types, and users can create custom data types and functions as well.

With 36% of professional developers using PostgreSQL, it’s no surprise that creating a PostgreSQL REST API is highly in demand. Fortunately, developers can use DreamFactory to build and publish a PostgreSQL REST API integration in minutes.

What is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is a common choice among developers who need to deal with large volume datasets and want support for multi-version concurrency control. PostgreSQL is also famous for its native support for object-oriented programming languages (like hstore, JSON, and XML) and its ability to manage unstructured and non-traditional data. An additional feature that sets PostgreSQL apart from other RDBMS platforms is its high degree of extensibility, which the platform achieves through a catalog-driven operation.

Why is PostgreSQL Popular?

The following features and characteristics make PostgreSQL unique among relational database systems:

Supported Programming Languages and Operating Systems: PostgreSQL supports a wide variety of programming languages, including but not limited to C/C++, Delphi, Erlang, Go, Java, JavaScript, Lisp, .Net, Python, R, Tcl. As for operating systems, users typically run PostgreSQL on Linux servers, but the platform also supports macOS, Solaris, Windows, and BSD (FreeBSD and OpenBSD).
Extensibility Features: PostgreSQL achieves extensibility through a 'catalog-driven operation.' This means that the platform stores more data in its catalogs compared to other RDBMS systems. Instead of only storing table and column data, PostgreSQL stores information about functions, access methods, data types, and more. Because users can easily modify these catalogs, users can 'extend' PostgreSQL without loading a custom module from the vendor or altering the hard-coded procedures found in the source code. PostgreSQL's extensibility is one of the reasons why developers are particularly fond of the platform.
ACID Compliance: PostgreSQL offers a high level of ACID compliance at the transactional level. This preserves data integrity and safeguards against data corruption.
Index Types: PostgreSQL supports B-tree indexes and hash indexes. Additional index types to note are 'partial indexes' that only organize part of the data in a table, and 'expression indexes' that you create from expression functions instead of column values.
ORDBMS Features: PostgreSQL is not only an RDBMS; it's also an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS). In this way, PostgreSQL can function as a bridge between relational/procedural programming and object-oriented programming. This allows PostgreSQL to support more complicated data schema by defining objects and table inheritance, which offers the flexibility to deal with 'unstructured data' or data that doesn't fit well into the relational model.
Flexible Data Types: PostgreSQL supports JSON, hstore, and XML data types, and users are additionally able to create custom data types and functions.
Complex Read-Write Query Optimization: PostgreSQL offers high-speed performance when handling complex, read-write queries for data that needs validation.
Large Volume Database Optimization: Since PostgreSQL doesn't put limits on database size, it's an excellent solution for managing databases with massive volumes of data. Whether you're dealing with 4MB or 4PB (petabyte) sized datasets, PostgreSQL can process hundreds of thousands of requests in less than a second.
Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC): MVCC offers dramatic improvements in efficiency by allowing read and write commands from multiple users simultaneously. PostgreSQL permits many users to interact with a PostgreSQL database concurrently through 'snapshot isolation,' which bypasses the need for read-write locks every time a user interacts with the database.

PostgreSQL is one of many database technologies supported by DreamFactory, which can also generate REST APIs for MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB, Oracle, and many additional integrations.

To learn more about PostgreSQL REST API generation, contact the DreamFactory team now.

Tutorial

Want to see how simple it is to create a PostgreSQL-backed API with DreamFactory? Read our guide which shows you how to generate an API, apply role-based access controls, create an API key, and begin querying your API – often in as little as 5 minutes flat.