Microsoft has backed an open-source project aimed at helping address PostgreSQL’s weaknesses as an analytics database. The project, which is under the permissive MIT License, brings popular in-process OLAP system DuckDB to PostgreSQL. This will enable developers to build analytical systems based on PostgreSQL more effectively.
PostgreSQL has been the most popular database among developers since 2023, thanks to its robust and extensible design. However, developers have struggled to use it for analytics due to its slow performance. An open-source PostgreSQL extension that embeds DuckDB’s analytics engine aims to address this problem.
DuckDB is embedded within a host process, making it easy to install and maintain. Its vectorized query engine processes chunks of data at a time, making it ideal for answering analytical questions about large datasets. The project promises greater stability with its 1.0 release.
The new PostgreSQL extension, pg_duckdb, is supported by DuckDB Labs, Microsoft, Hydra, and Neon. This impressive lineup of companies backing the project makes it an attractive option for developers who want to combine PostgreSQL and DuckDB in their stack.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/20/postgresql_duckdb_extension/