Debra Cerda Blog Posts

As part of the countdown to PostgresConf Silicon Valley 2023, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Bryn Llewellyn is a Technical Product Manager at Yugabyte, Inc., which offers an open source, cloud native distributed SQL database that looks like PostgreSQL to the developer. Bryn’s speciality is SQL and stored procedures in the context of distributed SQL.

Bryn has worked in the software field for more than forty years. He started working with SQL when he joined Oracle UK in 1990. He relocated to Oracle HQ (Redwood Shores, CA) in 1996 and his last role, before leaving, was as the Product Manager for PL/SQL. He left Oracle in April 2019 to join YugaByte, Inc.

Bryn started off doing image analysis and pattern recognition at Oxford University (programming in FORTRAN) and then worked in Oslo, first at the Norwegian Computing Center and then in a startup. In Norway, Bryn programmed in Simula—recognized as the first object-oriented programming language and as the inspiration for C++.

Bryn will be presenting a mini-tutorial on Friday, April 21st at 9:30am Pacific Time on "How to configure a PostgreSQL cluster for multitenancy." Read what he has to say about Postgres and why to attend his session:

Why Postgres? Tell us about your involvement with the greater Postgres community.

I work for Yugabyte, Inc. (Learn more about Bryn's background). YugabyteDB uses the PostgreSQL query processing code “as is” on top of its own open source Spanner-like distributed storage system. I started at Yugabyte four years ago. And that’s when I first started to learn and to use PostgreSQL. My job is to document YugabyteDB’s SQL and PL/pgSQL functionality. This, by construction, has the same syntax and semantics as does vanilla PostgreSQL. I therefore ask lots of questions on the “pgsql-general” mailing list and, very occasionally, discover bugs in vanilla PostgreSQL.

What new features of PostgreSQL 15 are you most excited about?

Actually it’s a feature that’s new in Version 14: the new syntax for “language sql” functions that lets you define the body without making it a text literal so that it’s parsed at “create” time—allowing proper dependency tracking (and other benefits).

What features do you believe should be developed/improved and released in the next major upgrade?

I would dearly like to see new functionality for "language plpgsql" subprograms that’s comparable to PL/SQL’s “package” construct (in Oracle Database).

Why should attendees come to your talk at PostgresConf US 2023?  What would you like for them to take away from your session?

I describe a practical solution to a genuine problem. And I make all the code easily available for download from the GitHub repo.

What is your favorite aspect of Postgres Conference?

Meeting real PostgreSQL practitioners and talking with them about their real-world use cases.

What advice would you have for a Computer Science graduate or entry level developer who are interested in learning and engaging with Postgres?

Get a job where you use the technology on a daily basis.

 What's your top suggested readings for 2023?  Books, blogs -- from fiction to non-fiction to technical, anything you enjoy?

Our Yugabyte blog!

What do you believe are the major achievements of open source and Postgres over the last decade?

How YugabyteDB has made the familiar PostgreSQL functionality available as an open source, cloud native, massively scalable and fault tolerant, distributed SQL database system. (Of course, I would say this!) 

Anything else to add?

I’m excited to be attending (again), and speaking (again) at the Postgres Conference Silicon Valley.

Check out the full schedule for Postgres Conference Silicon Valley 2023, and buy your tickets soon!

As part of the countdown to Postgres Conference 2024, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Baji Shaik is a Sr. Lead Consultant at AWS ProServe, GCC AMER, and is a seasoned expert in SQL/NoSQL databases, specializing in database migration and optimization. With a wealth of experience spanning various technologies, he's authored multiple books on PostgreSQL and actively contributes to the AWS blog community.

Baji will present “Beyond Boundaries: Mastering 2-Level Encryption Migration in PostgreSQL”. Read what Baji has to say about Postgres and why to attend his session:

Why should attendees come to your talk at Postgres Conference 2024? What would you like for them to take away from your session?
Learn about encryption in Oracle, its pros and cons. Discover PostgreSQL's encryption methods. Choose and migrate to the right encryption method without compromising security or performance.

What is your favorite aspect of Postgres Conference?
I actively participate in PostgreSQL Conferences to expand my knowledge base and forge valuable connections within the community.

What advice would you have for a Computer Science graduate or entry level developer who is interested in learning and engaging with Postgres and other open source technologies?
My advice would be to start by exploring online resources, joining community forums, and actively participating in relevant conferences and workshops to gain practical experience and network with industry professionals.

How do you see the use of open source technologies evolving over the next five years?
I envision open-source technologies playing an increasingly vital role across various industries, driving innovation, collaboration, and cost-efficiency while fostering a more inclusive and accessible digital ecosystem.

What considerations should be taken for the adoption and use of Postgres and related open source technologies?
Considerations for adopting and using Postgres and related open-source technologies include evaluating compatibility with existing systems, assessing scalability and performance requirements, ensuring adequate support and expertise, and considering factors like security, community support, and long-term sustainability.

Check out the full schedule for PostgresConf US 2024. Learn more about our conference here and buy your tickets soon!

Attention PostgresConf US 2018 registered (and potential) attendees -- our discounted room block at the Westin Jersey City Newport has sold out! We have arranged to add an additional small block, lasting until Monday, March 26th or until it sells out.

HOWEVER, these rooms are selling fast so make your reservation ASAP if interested in staying at the Westin with the special conference rate of $260/night plus applicable taxes for attendees who make their reservations via the dedicated Westin webpage or via telephone (888) 627-7148.

If booking via telephone please mention "PostgresConf US 2018" to receive the group rate. Guest room wifi is included in the room rate.

The Westin Jersey City Newport is the best place to stay and enjoy all conference activities. Attendees will mingle at the Westin bar and hallways throughout the afternoon and long into the evening.

Additional Lodging Options

The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Suites Jersey City and the Courtyard Jersey City Newport  are two conveniently located hotels just a short walk from the conference. Rooms may be booked via their respective websites.

PostgresConf US Attendee Poll - Action Needed!

Our PostgresConf US 2018 poll is now open -- your input is valued!

Please take two minutes to provide feedback so we can ensure that the conference is a great experience. Registered attendees should have received an email this week with the poll link. Contact us at organizers@postgresconf.org if you did not receive the poll link.

The purpose of this quick poll is to note any dietary restrictions and gauge interest in the Greenplum and RIS Summits, as well as some of our popular sessions so that we can assign room spaces accordingly

Sponsors

During PostgresConf, you will have plenty of opportunity to meet our great sponsors, including:

• Diamond: Amazon Web Services, Pivotal
• Platinum: Compose, OpenSCG, 2ndQuadrant, Microsoft
• Many more!

For more information, please visit our website https://postgresconf.org/conferences/2018.

Need further assistance? Contact us at organizers@postgresconf.org.

We look forward to seeing you in April in Jersey City!

As part of the countdown to PostgresConf US 2018, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Tom Limoncelli is the SRE Manager at StackOverflow.com and author of Time Management for System Administrators (O'Reilly). He is co-author of The Practice of System and Network Administration (3rd edition just released) and The Practice of Cloud System Administration.  

Tom will be presenting a half-day training on Monday, April 16 on "Personal Time Management: The Basics for Overloaded People." Read what he has to say about Postgres and why to attend his session:

Why PostgreSQL? What got you into it, and made you stick with it?

The startup I was at in 2003 needed a database. Since we did a lot of work with IP and network addresses, we picked PostgreSQL because it supports those as native types.

Tell us about your involvement with the greater Postgres community. 

I'm new to the greater Postgres community. I've been a system administrator since 1988 and often speak on related topics.

What features should be developed/improved and released in the next major upgrade?

Anything that makes replication and failovers easier and more reliable. 

Why should attendees come to your talk at PostgresConf US 2018? What would you like for them to take away from your session?

Time management: you will gain an additional day out of every week. Radical ideas: you'll learn how modern software ("distributed computing") is radically changing how we build systems and do operations. I'd like to give them hope for the future.

What is your favorite aspect of PostgresConf US?

That it's in my back yard!  I live 10 miles from here!

What advice would you have for a Computer Science graduate or entry level developer who are interested in learning and engaging with Postgres?

Give yourself projects. Try to break things and then see if you can repair them.  You'll learn more from recovering a failed system than anything else.

Bonus Question: You can invite any three living people from anywhere in the world to dinner. Who do you invite and why?

Obama (because I'd like to thank him), Steve Martin (because he has an amazing life story and is super smart), and Jennifer Lawrence (she also has an interesting life story).  I also think that these three people would get along well.

Check out the full schedule for PostgresConf US 2018, and buy your tickets soon!

As part of the countdown to PostgresConf US 2018, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Hubert Zhang will co-present with Jack Wu at PostgresConf US 2018 on "Customize and Secure the Runtime and Dependencies of Your Procedural Languages using PL/Container." Hubert is a staff software engineer at Pivotal. He received his Master Degree at Peking University, with a major in artificial intelligence. He is most interested in database systems and distributed computing platform.

Tell us about your involvement with the greater Postgres community. (How long have you been involved? How have you contributed? How else would you want to contribute?)

I've been working on Postgres based MPP database Greenplum and HAWQ since 2014. I contributed on PLContainer in Greenplum, data locality, and Ranger module of HAWQ (a SQL-On-Hadoop system).

What features should be developed/improved and released in the next major upgrade?

Vectorize execution for OLAP queries.

Who should attend your talk at PostgresConf US 2018? What would you like for them to take away from your session?

Data scientists and anyone who want to use Python and R in database to do data analysis and machine learning. You'll learn how to use PLContainer as well as how to build a customized docker image to setup your specialized Python or R environment.

Check out the full schedule for PostgresConf US 2018, and buy your tickets soon!

As part of the countdown to Postgres Conference 2024, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Silas Marvin is a founding software engineer at PostgresML, writes software for fun and a better future.

Silas will present "RAG Masterclass: Simplify your data infrastructure with in-database NLP using pgml and pgvector for Retrieval Augmented Generation." Read what Silas has to say about Postgres and why to attend his session:

Why should attendees come to your talk at Postgres Conference 2024? What would you like for them to take away from your session?
Postgres developers should attend my talk to learn how to simplify their data infrastructure and build fast, powerful RAG applications using pgml and pgvector. Attendees will gain a solid understanding of RAG and its applications in Postgres, along with practical knowledge of pgml and pgvector to create efficient, scalable NLP solutions.

What is your favorite aspect of Postgres Conference?
My favorite aspect of Postgres Conference is the opportunity to connect with an incredible open-source community of like-minded developers who are passionate about pushing the boundaries of what Postgres can achieve. It's an awesome experience being surrounded by individuals who are committed to ensuring that Postgres remains the database powering the future.

What advice would you have for a Computer Science graduate or entry level developer who are interested in learning and engaging with Postgres and other open source technologies?
As a recent graduate myself, I recommend diving into the Postgres community and exploring open-source technology. Open-source projects provide an incredible opportunity for new developers to learn and grow as the development process is transparent and collaborative. In particular, I have found the Postgres community to be an exceptional group of intelligent, experienced developers who are not only building amazing projects but are also willing to guide and support newcomers on their journey.

How do you see the use of open source technologies evolving over the next five years?
Over the next 5 years, open source technologies are only going to keep growing and playing a bigger part in the software world. As software engineering grows, open source will grow right along with it. Solid, proven projects like Postgres will be the foundation that many new open source tools are built on top of.

What considerations should be taken for the adoption and use of Postgres and related open source technologies?
answered above ^

Check out the full schedule for PostgresConf US 2024. Learn more about our conference here and buy your tickets soon!

As part of the countdown to Postgres Conference 2024, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Robert Bernier is senior PostgreSQL consultant at Percona.

Robert will present Working With The Citus Extension. Read what Robert has to say about Postgres and why to attend their session:

Why should attendees come to your talk at Postgres Conference 2024? What would you like for them to take away from your session?
For people who have heard about Citus but know nothing about it.
What is your favorite aspect of Postgres Conference?
Meeting my peers
What advice would you have for a Computer Science graduate or entry level developer who are interested in learning and engaging with Postgres and other open source technologies?
Data eats the world. Focus on learning about your data and how it's used.
How do you see the use of open source technologies evolving over the next five years?
PostgreSQL is a General Purpose Management System. It will come to dominate the DBMS world.
What considerations should be taken for the adoption and use of Postgres and related open source technologies?
Three talents:
- know your SQL
- know your OS (linux)
- know a programming language

Check out the full schedule for PostgresConf US 2024. Learn more about our conference here and buy your tickets soon!

As part of the countdown to PostgresConf US 2018, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Baron Schwartz is the founder and CEO of VividCortex, the best way to see what your production database servers are doing. Baron has written a lot of open source software, and several books. He’s focused his career on learning and teaching about performance and observability of systems generally (including the view that teams are systems and culture influences their performance), and databases specifically.

Baron will be presenting a breakout session "How To Index Your Database" on Friday, April 20th at 12:50 pm. Read what he has to say about Postgres and why to attend his session: 

Why PostgreSQL? What got you into it, and made you stick with it?

The community has always been what’s drawn me to Postgres. From the very first I could immediately sense the deep commitment people had to the database and other people involved with the database. Each database community is special in its own way and has its own culture, and after being involved in many of them you sense it in a way you can’t explain. Postgres’s is loyal to freedom, independence, quality, and principles. All are dear to me as well.

Tell us about your involvement with the greater Postgres community.

I’ve participated since 2008 in various ways. I’ve blogged, written open source, written books, reviewed and tech-edited other people’s books, spoken, and attended. I hope to continue doing so!

What new features of PostgreSQL 10 are you most excited about?

Partitioning! Improved streaming replication! Parallel query execution! There are so many improvements. The pace of development is really impressive.

What features should be developed/improved and released in the next major upgrade?

The database of the microservices-oriented future is only quasi-stateful. By this I mean that it acts almost like a read-through cache in front of “cold storage” like S3. Support for creating an empty database cluster, and having it fetch its data from cold storage on first query, would be game-changing for cloud-native apps. I realize that’s a lot of buzzwords, but it’s going to happen soon!

Why should attendees come to your talk at PostgresConf US 2018? What would you like for them to take away from your session?

Indexing is at once the most important, simplest, and most complicated topic in designing a database; I hope to make it simpler and leave people with three big things they will never struggle to remember.

What sessions are you most excited about attending at PostgresConf US 2018?

I'm really interested in hearing how others are using Postgres, both for creative purposes that showcase its flexibility and extensibility, as well as "use as designed." In my opinion, the best conference talks aren't "you should do this"; types of talks: they are "I did this and here's what happened"; I love stories!

What is your favorite aspect of PostgresConf US?

That’s an easy one to answer: seeing all my old friends again!

What advice would you have for a Computer Science graduate or entry level developer who are interested in learning and engaging with Postgres?

Computer Science seems to feel that algorithms, data structures, and so on are fundamental. Data persistence, especially relational, is equally important. Don’t neglect.

You can invite any three living people from anywhere in the world to dinner. Who do you invite and why?

I invite the three hungriest people in the world and eat mindfully with them, so I learn to appreciate what I have.

Check out the full schedule for PostgresConf US 2018, and buy your tickets soon!

As part of the countdown to PostgresConf US 2018, learn more about the engaging content and our speakers for this year in our Speaker Spotlight Series.

Tim Gorman is a technical consultant for Delphix who enable data virtualization and data masking to increase the agility of IT development and testing securely. Tim is co-author of six books about Oracle data warehousing and performance optimization, and has performed technical review for eight other published books. 

Tim will be presenting a breakout session on Wednesday, April 18 on "Reducing The Surface Area Of Risk In Data Security." Read what he has to say about Postgres and why to attend his session:

Why PostgreSQL? What got you into it, and made you stick with it?

30+ years in IT and databases, and PostgreSQL is the obvious heir apparent as every organization's default choice of data store.

Tell us about your involvement with the greater Postgres community. 

Just becoming involved.  I have been heavily involved in the Oracle user community for almost 25 years, and I have been getting involved in the Microsoft user community for the past 3 years.

What features should be developed/improved and released in the next major upgrade?

pgPL/SQL

Why should attendees come to your talk at PostgresConf US 2018? What would you like for them to take away from your session?

Creating environments for software development on PostgreSQL must include data masking to prevent confidential data from "bleeding" over from production to non-production environments.

What sessions are you most excited about attending at PostgresConf US 2018?

Mastering PostgreSQL Administration

What is your favorite aspect of PostgresConf US?

Networking with my new technical community

What advice would you have for a Computer Science graduate or entry level developer who are interested in learning and engaging with Postgres?

What is learned when optimizing PostgreSQL is also applicable to other databases

Bonus Question: You can invite any three living people from anywhere in the world to dinner. Who do you invite and why?

Vladimir Putin, Michelle Obama, and Justin Trudeau.  Differing people with different accomplishments on the current world stage, and I would be fascinated to listen to how they react to one another (and to me) once the barriers and inhibitions are dropped.

 Check out the full schedule for PostgresConf US 2018, and buy your tickets soon!