A Beginner’s Guide to PostgreSQL Features, History, and Comparison with MariaDB and MySQL

PostgreSQL (often just called "Postgres") is a powerful, free, and open-source object-relational database management system (ORDBMS).

Think of it as a traditional relational database (like a post on What is an RDBMS?) but with significant added capabilities. It's highly respected for its:

• Reliability & Stability: It's famous for its data integrity and is often the choice for mission-critical applications.
• Extensibility: You can define your own data types, functions, and indexes, tailoring the database to your needs.
• Advanced Data Types: It natively supports complex data that other databases struggle with, such as JSON/JSONB, arrays, geometric data (for maps), and key-value stores.
• Standards Compliance: It very closely follows the official SQL standards, making it predictable and powerful for complex queries.

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A Brief History of Postgres 📜

PostgreSQL's origins trace back to a research project at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) in the 1980s.

Founder: Professor Michael Stonebraker and his team.

Evolution:

• 1970s: Stonebraker worked on Ingres, an early relational database system.
• 1986: He started Postgres (meaning “Post-Ingres”) to add more modern features, like supporting new data types.
• 1996: SQL support was added, and the project was renamed PostgreSQL.
• Since then, it has been maintained and developed by a dedicated global open-source community.

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PostgreSQL vs MySQL vs MariaDB

While all three are excellent open-source databases, they are built with different philosophies.

The main difference:

MySQL and MariaDB are pure Relational Databases (RDBMS), while PostgreSQL is an Object-Relational Database (ORDBMS).
This means PostgreSQL handles complex data and advanced queries more naturally.

Feature	PostgreSQL	MySQL	MariaDB
Core Type	Object-Relational (ORDBMS)	Relational (RDBMS)	Relational (RDBMS)
Best For...	Complex queries, data analysis, high data integrity, and applications needing advanced data types.	Web applications, read-heavy sites (like blogs/CMS), simplicity, and ease of use.	A drop-in replacement for MySQL with better performance and more features.
Data Types	Very rich. Natively supports JSONB, arrays, geometric, and custom types.	Good. JSON support was added later and is generally considered less robust than in Postgres.	Similar to MySQL, but often adds new features faster.
Concurrency	Uses MVCC (Multiversion Concurrency Control), which allows readers and writers to work concurrently without blocking.	Uses MVCC primarily for its main storage engine (InnoDB).	Also uses MVCC (via InnoDB/XtraDB).
SQL Compliance	Very strict. Closely follows the SQL standard.	More flexible. Easier for beginners but can lead to data integrity issues.	Aims for high compatibility with MySQL.
Origin Story	Started as a university project at Berkeley.	Originally developed by MySQL AB (Sweden), now owned by Oracle.	A fork of MySQL created by its original developers to ensure it remained fully open-source after Oracle’s acquisition.

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Postgres vs. MySQL vs. MariaDB: Key Differences 🆚

While all three are excellent open-source databases, they are built with different philosophies.

The main difference:

MySQL and MariaDB are pure Relational Databases (RDBMS), while PostgreSQL is an Object-Relational Database (ORDBMS). This means Postgres handles complex data structures and queries more naturally.

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Which One Should You Choose? 🚀

Ultimately, the best database depends on your project's specific needs.

• Choose PostgreSQL if your application requires complex queries, high data integrity, and support for advanced data types like JSON or geometric data. It's a powerhouse for data analysis and large-scale, serious applications.
• Choose MySQL or MariaDB if you need a reliable, fast, and straightforward database for a web application, blog, or e-commerce store. MariaDB is often preferred by those in the open-source community as a more "true-to-its-roots" version of MySQL.

Understanding the core differences between PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB is the first step to building a robust and scalable tech stack.

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Visual Diagram

A simple diagram showing how MariaDB and PostgreSQL process queries internally: