PostgreSQL Version History: A Comprehensive Overview of Key Releases
Explore the evolution of PostgreSQL with this comprehensive overview of its release history. This article summarizes key features, improvements, and significant changes introduced in each major and minor version. #PostgreSQL #VersionHistory #ReleaseNotes #Database #OpenSource #PostgreSQLVersions
PostgreSQL Versions: A Release History
Introduction
PostgreSQL, a powerful open-source relational database, has a rich history of releases. This article provides a summary of significant PostgreSQL versions, highlighting key features and improvements introduced in each release.
PostgreSQL Versioning
PostgreSQL versions are identified by major and minor release numbers. Major releases often involve significant changes or additions, while minor releases typically focus on bug fixes, performance improvements, and security updates. Major versions are generally supported for five years, with one final minor release after that marking the "end-of-life" (EOL).
Release History Summary
Here's a summary of key PostgreSQL releases. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of every minor release; only notable versions are included.
| Release | Release Date | Key Features/Improvements |
|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL 9.5 | May 1, 1995 | Initial release; versions 0.01, 0.02, 0.03 |
| PostgreSQL 9.5 (0.02) | May 25, 1995 | CREATE DATABASE syntax change, new tools (pgperl, pg_dump), bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 9.5 (0.03) | July 21, 1995 | Handling of databases from previous versions, syntax changes (GRANT/REVOKE instead of CHANGE ACL), quoting changes, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 1.0 | September 5, 1995 | Improvements to COPY command, addition of SQL LIKE syntax, new port (IRIX 5.3), bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 1.01 | February 23, 1996 | Improved documentation, added CAST AS syntax, performance enhancements to pg_dump, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 1.02 | August 1, 1996 | Enhancements to date/time functions, psql improvements, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 6.0 | January 29, 1997 | Added UNIQUE indexes, libpq++ improvements, COPY command improvements, access control enhancements, BETWEEN and IN qualifiers, psql enhancements, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 6.1 | July 22, 1997 | pg_dumpall and pg_dump ownership reservation, new psql connection option, timestamp fixes, username changes, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 6.2 | October 17, 1997 | Multiline strings, improved DEFAULT handling, enhanced Boolean handling, trigger function improvements, improved output of now() and current, new allowed column names, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 6.3 | March 1, 1998 | Client-side environment variable support, default privileges changes, SQL92 subselect support, hash function additions, system index renaming, SQL92 PRIMARY KEY and UNIQUE support, deadlock detection improvements, pg_dump option changes, character limit increases, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 6.4 | October 30, 1998 | Added SQL92-compatible syntax, client-server communication improvements, improved installation system, view and rule functionality, psql enhancements, EXPLAIN improvements, configuration options, version() function, JDBC improvements, libpq enhancements, GROUP BY enhancements, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 6.5 | June 9, 1999 | Added exact numeric data type, CASE, INTERSECT, and EXCEPT statement support, interface improvements, new platform support, performance improvements, expression additions, ODBC driver updates, multiple rule actions, improved statistics, bug fixes. |
| PostgreSQL 7.0 | May 8, 2000 | (Further details on PostgreSQL 7.0 and subsequent versions would be added here, following the same format as above.) |
PostgreSQL Versions: A History of Enhancements
Introduction
PostgreSQL, a powerful open-source database, has seen continuous development and improvement over the years. This page provides a historical overview of key PostgreSQL releases, highlighting major features and enhancements.
Understanding PostgreSQL Versioning
PostgreSQL uses a versioning scheme with major and minor release numbers. Major releases often introduce significant changes and new features. Minor releases focus primarily on bug fixes, performance improvements, and security updates. The PostgreSQL Global Development Group typically provides five years of support for each major release, followed by one final minor release containing fixes.
Key PostgreSQL Versions and Their Enhancements
Below is a summary of important PostgreSQL releases, focusing on major version updates and their key improvements. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of every single minor release within each major version.
| Version | Release Date | Key Features and Enhancements |
|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL 7.0 | May 8, 2000 | psql updates, SQL92 JOIN syntax, ODBC and JDBC improvements, removal of `:` and `;` operators, TRUNCATE command, CREATE FUNCTION enhancements, SET FSYNC command, pg_description support. |
| PostgreSQL 7.1 | April 13, 2001 | SQL92 outer join support, subqueries in FROM clause, cluster improvements, enhanced error messages, improved dependency ordering in pg_dump, functional indexes, pg_config utility. |
| PostgreSQL 7.2 | February 4, 2002 | MD5 password encryption, multilingual messages, safe transaction ID wraparound, unique indexes on system tables, millisecond transaction timing, temporary file directory specification. |
| PostgreSQL 7.3 | November 27, 2002 | ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN functionality, query performance improvements, enhanced logging, multibyte and locale support, object dependency tracking, improved hash functions, SSL enhancements, default_statistics_target configuration variable, increased identifier length, date/time improvements. |
| PostgreSQL 7.4 | November 17, 2003 | Improved GROUP BY processing, explicit JOIN syntax, function inlining, improved IN and NOT IN subqueries, multikey hash join, enhanced regular expressions, SSL improvements, free space map enhancements, new client-server protocol, full-text indexing improvements, array handling improvements, autovacuum improvements, thread-safe libpq and ECPG. |
| PostgreSQL 8.0 | January 19, 2005 | Windows server support, runs as a Windows service, support for various Windows versions, ALTER TABLE data type changes, COPY command improvements for CSV files, checkpoint, buffer management, and vacuum enhancements, cross-data-type index usage, nested transactions, CREATE SCHEMA enhancements. |
| PostgreSQL 8.1 | November 8, 2005 | Two-phase commit support, improved concurrent access to shared buffer cache, automatic index usage for MAX() and MIN(), added dependencies for shared objects, partitioned table performance improvements, index scan enhancements. |
| PostgreSQL 8.2 | December 5, 2006 | Non-blocking index creation, improved vacuuming, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE improvements, enhanced sorting performance, array and null handling enhancements, table inheritance improvements. |
| PostgreSQL 8.3 | February 4, 2008 | User-defined type modifiers, full-text search integration, ENUM type support, updatable cursors, SQL/XML support. |
PostgreSQL Release History
The table below summarizes key PostgreSQL releases, highlighting significant additions and changes. Note that this isn't an exhaustive list of every minor release within each major version; only major updates and noteworthy features are included.
| Version | Release Date | Key Improvements and New Features |
|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL 7.0 | May 8, 2000 | psql updates, SQL92 JOIN syntax, improved ODBC and JDBC, removal of `:` and `;` operators, TRUNCATE command, CREATE FUNCTION enhancements, SET FSYNC command, pg_description support. |
| PostgreSQL 7.1 | April 13, 2001 | SQL92 outer join support, subqueries in FROM clause, various improvements (cluster, function creation, file descriptor cache, pg_dump), functional indexes, pg_config utility. |
| PostgreSQL 7.2 | February 4, 2002 | MD5 password encryption, multilingual messages, transaction ID wraparound safety, unique indexes on system tables, millisecond transaction timing, dedicated temporary file directory. |
| PostgreSQL 7.3 | November 27, 2002 | ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN, query performance enhancements, improved logging, multibyte and locale support, object dependency tracking, enhanced hash functions, SSL improvements, default_statistics_target, increased identifier length, date/time improvements. |
| PostgreSQL 7.4 | November 17, 2003 | Enhanced GROUP BY using hash buckets, explicit JOIN syntax, function inlining, improved IN and NOT IN subqueries, multikey hash join, faster regular expressions, SSL improvements, free space map improvements, new client-server protocol, full-text indexing improvements, improved array handling, autovacuum enhancements, thread-safe libpq and ECPG. |
| PostgreSQL 8.0 | January 19, 2005 | Windows server support (runs as a service), ALTER TABLE data type changes, COPY command CSV support, improved checkpoint, buffer management, and vacuum, cross-data-type index usage, nested transactions (savepoints), CREATE SCHEMA enhancements for triggers, indexes, and sequences. |
| PostgreSQL 8.1 | November 8, 2005 | Two-phase commit, improved concurrent buffer cache access, automatic index usage for MAX() and MIN(), role dependencies on shared objects, partitioned table performance improvements, index scan enhancements. |
| PostgreSQL 8.2 | December 5, 2006 | Non-blocking index creation, improved vacuuming, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE improvements, faster sorting, array and NULL handling improvements, table inheritance. |
| PostgreSQL 8.3 | February 4, 2008 | User-defined type modifiers, full-text search integration, ENUM types, updatable cursors, SQL/XML support. |
| PostgreSQL 8.4 | July 1, 2009 | psql editing, column permissions, common table expressions (CTEs) and recursive queries, hash index improvements, database locale settings, SSL certificate support for authentication, improved JOIN performance for EXISTS and NOT EXISTS queries. |
| PostgreSQL 9.0 | September 20, 2010 | New trigger features, 64-bit Windows support, improved VACUUM FULL, RADIUS and LDAP authentication, granular object permissions, improved stored procedures. |
| PostgreSQL 9.1 | September 12, 2011 | Streaming replication, synchronous replication, serializable isolation level, foreign tables, unlogged tables, SECURITY LABEL command, PL/Python updates, per-column collation, extensions. |
| PostgreSQL 9.2 | September 10, 2012 | Range types, index-only scans, JSON data type, improved nested loop joins, pg_receivexlog, custom query plans for prepared statements, SP-GiST index, security barrier for views. |
| PostgreSQL 9.3 | September 9, 2013 | Non-blocking foreign key updates, event triggers, enhanced JSON functions and operators, PostgreSQL foreign-data wrapper, materialized views, LATERAL joins. |
| PostgreSQL 9.4 | December 18, 2014 | Logical decoding, reduced locking for ALTER TABLE, ALTER SYSTEM command, improved jsonb, materialized views. |
| PostgreSQL 9.5 | January 7, 2016 | BRIN indexes, enhanced GROUP BY (cube, grouping sets, rollup), improved INSERT conflict handling, multi-CPU performance improvements, replication improvements, row-level security, improved sorting performance. |
| PostgreSQL 9.6 | September 29, 2016 | Synchronous replication for multiple standby servers, full-text search phrase support, improved vacuuming, multi-CPU scalability enhancements, parallel query execution, postgres_fdw enhancements. |
| PostgreSQL 10 | October 5, 2017 | Improved password authentication (SCRAM-SHA-256), parallel CREATE INDEX, JSONB improvements, pg_stat_statements enhancements, improved partitioning, and more. |
| PostgreSQL 11 | October 3, 2018 | Parallel query capabilities, improved indexing, enhanced PARTITIONING, and more. |
| PostgreSQL 12 | October 3, 2019 | Improvements in performance, security, and features. |
| PostgreSQL 13 | September 10, 2020 | Enhanced performance and new features. |
| PostgreSQL 14 | November 17, 2021 | Further performance improvements and feature additions. |
| PostgreSQL 15 | October 19, 2022 | Performance improvements and new features. |
PostgreSQL 10 (October 5, 2017)
PostgreSQL 10 brought significant enhancements, focusing on:
- Improved Password Authentication: Stronger password security using SCRAM-SHA-256.
- Parallel CREATE INDEX: Faster index creation using multiple cores.
- JSONB Enhancements: Improvements to the JSONB data type for better performance and functionality.
pg_stat_statementsEnhancements: Better query monitoring tools.- Improved Partitioning: Enhanced performance for partitioned tables.
PostgreSQL 11 (October 18, 2018)
PostgreSQL 11 focused on scalability and performance. Key improvements included:
- INCLUDE Clause for Indexes: Allows including non-key columns in indexes.
- Embedded Transactions in Stored Procedures: Enhanced support for stored procedure transactions.
- Improved Partitioning: Further enhancements to partitioning, including support for
UPDATEstatements that modify partition keys. - Optimized
SELECTPerformance: Improved partition elimination strategies for faster queries. - Enhanced Query Parallelism: Improved parallel query execution capabilities.
- Improved Monitoring and Control: Enhanced tools for database monitoring and management.
- Logical Replication Enhancements: Improvements to the publishing and subscription capabilities.
- Declarative Table Partitioning: Easier to manage and define partitioned tables.
PostgreSQL 12 (October 3, 2019)
PostgreSQL 12 focused on performance and added new features:
- Generated Columns: Ability to define columns whose values are automatically computed.
- LDAP Authentication Enhancements: Improved LDAP server discovery and authentication.
- GSSAPI Authentication with Encryption: Enhanced security for network connections.
- Administrative Enhancements: Improvements to various administrative tools and features.
- B-Tree Index Performance: Optimized space usage, read/write performance.
- GiST Index Improvements: Support for covering indexes using the
INCLUDEclause.
Conclusion
PostgreSQL's recent releases have focused on performance enhancements and extending functionality. These improvements benefit users through better scalability, easier data management, and improved security.