Hi,Attached is the draft of the PostgreSQL 17 release announcement. This is a draft of the text that will go into the press kit, with the key portions to review starting from the top of the document, up until the "About PostgreSQL" section.
Please provide feedback on content accuracy, notable omissions or items that should be excluded, or if an explanation is unclear and needs better phrasing. On the last point, I'm looking to ensure the wording is clear and is easy to translate into different languages.
Based on feedback, I'll be posting a revision once a day (if there's feedback) until the review cut-off. We'll have to freeze the announcement by Mon, Sep 9 @ 12:00 UTC so we can begin the translation process.
Thank you for your help with the release process! Jonathan
September 26, 2024 - The PostgreSQL Global Development Group today announced the release of [PostgreSQL 17](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/release-17.html), the latest version of the world's most advanced open source database. PostgreSQL 17 builds on decades of open source development, improving its performance and scalability while adapting to emergent data access and storage patterns. This release of PostgreSQL adds significant overall performance gains, including an overhauled memory management implementation for vacuum, optimizations to storage access and improvements for high concurrency workloads, speedups in bulk loading and exports, and query execution improvements for indexes. PostgreSQL 17 has features that benefit brand new workloads and critical systems alike, such as additions to the developer experience with the SQL/JSON `JSON_TABLE` command, and enhancements to logical replication that simplify management of high availability workloads and major version upgrades. <HOLD FOR QUOTE> PostgreSQL, an innovative data management system known for its reliability, robustness, and extensibility, benefits from over 25 years of open source development from a global developer community and has become the preferred open source relational database for organizations of all sizes. ### System-wide performance gains A foundational feature of PostgreSQL is [vacuum](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/routine-vacuuming.html), which is used to reclaim storage from data that was marked as removed. Reducing resources required for vacuuming directly helps other areas of PostgreSQL, particularly on very busy systems. PostgreSQL 17 introduces a new internal memory structure for vacuum that's shown up to a 20x reduction in memory and improvements in overall vacuuming speed. This release also removes the `1GB` limit on the memory it can use (controlled by [`maintenance_work_mem`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/runtime-config-resource.html#GUC-MAINTENANCE-WORK-MEM)), letting users apply more resources to vacuuming, which is beneficial for systems with lots of changes. PostgreSQL 17 continues to improve performance of its I/O layer. As part of PostgreSQL 17, highly concurrent workloads may see up to a 2x performance improvements in write speed based on new optimizations to lock management for the [write-ahead log](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/wal-intro.html) ([WAL](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/wal-intro.html)). Additionally, this release introduces an interface to stream I/O, with immediate improvements for sequential scans (reading all the data from a table) and updating database statistics with [`ANALYZE`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/sql-analyze.html), and allowing extensions to integrate with this capability to further accelerate their performance. PostgreSQL 17 extends its performance gains to query execution. Planner statistics help PostgreSQL to determine the best way to search for data, and PostgreSQL 17 can now use planner statistics and the sort order [common table expressions](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/queries-with.html) ([`WITH` queries](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/queries-with.html)) to further speed up queries. PostgreSQL 17 also includes several indexing optimizations, including speeding execution of queries that contain an `IN` clause that use a [B-tree index](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/indexes-types.html#INDEXES-TYPES-BTREE) (the default index method in PostgreSQL), and parallel index builds for [BRIN](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/brin.html) indexes. The query planner in PostgreSQL 17 can now remove redundant `IS NOT NULL` statements when a column has a `NOT NULL` constraint, and skips over clauses that contain an `IS NULL` clause on a column with an `IS NOT NULL` constraint. PostgreSQL 17 continues to build on its support of explicit use SIMD (Single Instruction/Multiple Data) instructions to accelerate computations, adding support for using AVX-512 to accelerate computations for the [`bit_count`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/functions-bitstring.html) function. ### Further expansion of a robust developer experience PostgreSQL was the [first relational database to add JSON support (2012)](https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/postgresql-92-released-1415/), and PostgreSQL 17 continues to add capabilities to support more expressive JSON processing capabilities and implementation of the SQL/JSON standard. [`JSON_TABLE`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/functions-json.html#FUNCTIONS-SQLJSON-TABLE) debuts in PostgreSQL 17, letting developers convert JSON data into a standard PostgreSQL table. PostgreSQL 17 now supports [SQL/JSON constructors](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/functions-json.html#FUNCTIONS-JSON-CREATION-TABLE) (`JSON`, `JSON_SCALAR`, `JSON_SERIALIZE`) and [query functions](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/functions-json.html#SQLJSON-QUERY-FUNCTIONS) (`JSON_EXISTS`, `JSON_QUERY`, `JSON_VALUE`), giving developers other ways of interfacing with their JSON data. This release adds more [`jsonpath` expressions](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/functions-json.html#FUNCTIONS-SQLJSON-PATH-OPERATORS), with an emphasis of converting JSON data to a native PostgreSQL data type, including numeric, boolean, string, and date/time types. [`MERGE`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/sql-merge.html), introduced in PostgreSQL 15, allows you to write conditional SQL that includes `INSERT`, `UPDATE`, and `DELETE` actions from a single statement. PostgreSQL 17 builds on this by adding a `RETURNING` clause, letting developers take further action on modified rows in other parts of a query. PostgreSQL 17 gives developers more control over `MERGE` behavior, including a `merge_action` function to provide insight into how a row was modified and the `WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE` clause to add behavior if a source row doesn't match the MERGE conditions. Additionally, you can now use `MERGE` to update [views](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/sql-createview.html). PostgreSQL 17 has new capabilities for bulk loading and data exporting, including up to a 2x performance improvement when exporting large rows using the [`COPY`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/sql-copy.html) command. `COPY` performance also has improvements when the source and destination encodings match, and includes a new option, `ON_ERROR`, that allows an import to proceed even if there is an error with a row insert. This release expands on functionality for managing data in partitions or federated on remote PostgreSQL instances. PostgreSQL 17 supports using identity columns and exclusion constraints on [partitioned tables](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/ddl-partitioning.html). With this release, the [PostgreSQL foreign data wrapper](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/postgres-fdw.html) ([`postgres_fdw`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/postgres-fdw.html)), used to execute queries on remote PostgreSQL instances, can now push `EXISTS` and `IN` subqueries to the remote server for more efficient processing. PostgreSQL 17 also includes a built-in, platform independent, immutable collation provider that's guaranteed to be immutable and provides similar sorting semantics to the `C` collation except with `UTF-8` encoding rather than `SQL_ASCII`. Using this new collation provider guarantees that your text-based queries will return the same sorted results regardless of where you run PostgreSQL. ### Logical replication enhancements for high availability and major version upgrades [Logical replication](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/logical-replication.html) is used to stream data in real-time across many use cases. However, prior to this release, users who wanted to perform a major version upgrade would have to drop [logical replication slots](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/logical-replication-subscription.html#LOGICAL-REPLICATION-SUBSCRIPTION-SLOT), which requires resynchronizing data to subscribers after an upgrade. Starting with upgrades from PostgreSQL 17, users don't have to drop logical replication slots, simplifying the upgrade process when using logical replication. PostgreSQL 17 now includes failover control for logical replication, making it more resilient when deployed in high availability environments. Additionally, PostgreSQL 17 introduces the [`pg_createsubscriber`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/app-pgcreatesubscriber.html) command-line tool for adding logical replication on a replica using physical replication. ### More options for managing security and operations PostgreSQL 17 further extends how users can manage the overall lifecycle of their database systems. Users that use TLS to connect to PostgreSQL can use the new `sslnegotiation` connection parameter to perform a direct TLS handshakes when using [ALPN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application-Layer_Protocol_Negotiation), and is registered as `postgresql` in the ALPN directory. This release adds the `pg_maintain` [predefined role](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/predefined-roles.html), which allows you to give users permission to execute maintenance operations. [`pg_basebackup`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/app-pgbasebackup.html), the backup utility included in PostgreSQL, now supports incremental backups and adds the [`pg_combinebackup`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/app-pgcombinebackup.html) for the backup restoration process. Additionally, [`pg_dump`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/app-pgdump.html) includes a new option called `--filter` that lets you select what objects to include when generating a dump file. PostgreSQL 17 also includes enhancements to monitoring and analysis features. [`EXPLAIN`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/sql-explain.html), used to provide details on query plans and execution, can now show the time spent for I/O block reads and writes. `EXPLAIN` also adds two new options: `SERIALIZE`, which shows the timing for data conversion for network transmission, and `MEMORY`, which reports optimizer memory usage. PostgreSQL 17 now reports the [progress of vacuuming indexes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/progress-reporting.html#VACUUM-PROGRESS-REPORTING), and adds the [`pg_wait_events`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/view-pg-wait-events.html) that, when combined with [`pg_stat_activity`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-ACTIVITY-VIEW), gives more insight into why an active session is waiting. ### Additional Features Many other new features and improvements have been added to PostgreSQL 17. Many of these may also be helpful for your use cases. Please see the [release notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/release-17.html) for a complete list of new and changed features. ### About PostgreSQL [PostgreSQL](https://www.postgresql.org) is the world's most advanced open source database, with a global community of thousands of users, contributors, companies and organizations. Built on over 35 years of engineering, starting at the University of California, Berkeley, PostgreSQL has continued with an unmatched pace of development. PostgreSQL's mature feature set not only matches top proprietary database systems, but exceeds them in advanced database features, extensibility, security, and stability. ### Links * [Download](https://www.postgresql.org/download/) * [Release Notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/release-17.html) * [Press Kit](https://www.postgresql.org/about/press/) * [Security Page](https://www.postgresql.org/support/security/) * [Versioning Policy](https://www.postgresql.org/support/versioning/) * [Follow @postgresql](https://twitter.com/postgresql) * [Donate](https://www.postgresql.org/about/donate/) ## More About the Features For explanations of the above features and others, please see the following resources: * [Release Notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/release-17.html) * [Feature Matrix](https://www.postgresql.org/about/featurematrix/) ## Where to Download There are several ways you can download PostgreSQL 17, including: * The [Official Downloads](https://www.postgresql.org/download/) page, with contains installers and tools for [Windows](https://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/), [Linux](https://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/), [macOS](https://www.postgresql.org/download/macosx/), and more. * [Source Code](https://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/v17.0) Other tools and extensions are available on the [PostgreSQL Extension Network](http://pgxn.org/). ## Documentation PostgreSQL 17 comes with HTML documentation as well as man pages, and you can also browse the documentation online in both [HTML](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/) and [PDF](https://www.postgresql.org/files/documentation/pdf/17/postgresql-17-US.pdf) formats. ## Licence PostgreSQL uses the [PostgreSQL License](https://www.postgresql.org/about/licence/), a BSD-like "permissive" license. This [OSI-certified license](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/postgresql/) is widely appreciated as flexible and business-friendly, since it does not restrict the use of PostgreSQL with commercial and proprietary applications. Together with multi-company support and public ownership of the code, our license makes PostgreSQL very popular with vendors wanting to embed a database in their own products without fear of fees, vendor lock-in, or changes in licensing terms. ## Contacts Website * [https://www.postgresql.org/](https://www.postgresql.org/) Email * [pr...@postgresql.org](mailto:pr...@postgresql.org) ## Images and Logos Postgres, PostgreSQL, and the Elephant Logo (Slonik) are all registered trademarks of the [PostgreSQL Community Association](https://www.postgres.ca). If you wish to use these marks, you must comply with the [trademark policy](https://www.postgresql.org/about/policies/trademarks/). ## Corporate Support PostgreSQL enjoys the support of numerous companies, who sponsor developers, provide hosting resources, and give us financial support. See our [sponsors](https://www.postgresql.org/about/sponsors/) page for some of these project supporters. There is also a large community of [companies offering PostgreSQL Support](https://www.postgresql.org/support/professional_support/), from individual consultants to multinational companies. If you wish to make a financial contribution to the PostgreSQL Global Development Group or one of the recognized community non-profit organizations, please visit our [donations](https://www.postgresql.org/about/donate/) page.
OpenPGP_signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature
