jOOQ Newsletter September 17, 2013

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SQL for calculations

SQL can be used for heavy calculations. This doesn’t mean that it has to, of course. Many Java-oriented software architects are reluctant to allow for business logic entering their database. DBA tend to disagree and promote complex logic in database views or stored procedures.

The pros and cons of both sides can be seen in this popular discussion on reddit. Our take on this discussion is a rather pragmatic one, saying: Neither approach is “better”. But not knowing about awesome, often vendor-specific SQL features is a pity. For example, here are two approaches to calculating a running total with Oracle SQL:

• Using Oracle’s MODEL clause
• Using SQL:2003 window functions

What is your experience with SQL for calculations? Reply to this e-mail and tell us your story.

SQL Performance Explained

When running calculations in the database using SQL, it is always good to know your way around indexing and performance tuning. As jOOQ is a very SQL-centric environment, we would like to promote a very good book about SQL Performance.

SQL databases have become incredibly fast in parsing and executing even very complex SQL statements. But to many SQL developers, writing performing SQL is still a mystery. SQL Performance Explained by Markus Winandcovers 90% of what any SQL developer should know in very simple terms. A must-read for all SQL beginners and pros! Available in English, German, and French.

PostgreSQL 9.3

PostgreSQL 9.3 has been released! This is great news as a wonderful database has just gotten better. Apart from support for materialised views and updatable views, PostgreSQL now also supports the SQL standard LATERAL JOIN, which will soon be supported in jOOQ as well.

More about what’s new in PostgreSQL 9.3 can be seen here.

Google and MariaDB

After RedHat’s alleged switching from MySQL to MariaDB in RHEL, Google now also announces that they will start to migrate away from Oracle’s popular Open Source database. These migrations will further strengthen MariaDB’s position and communities, as large players in the data market will stop contributing to MySQL and contribute to MariaDB instead.

Read more about this migration here.