PostgreSQL 11: What's New, Release History & EOL Status

What is New in PostgreSQL 11

PostgreSQL 11 is a major release that brings significant improvements in performance, partitioning, parallelism, and overall usability. This version focuses on making large-scale databases more efficient while introducing powerful new features for both developers and database administrators.

Key highlights include major enhancements to declarative partitioning, improved parallel query execution, and several new SQL capabilities that simplify complex data operations.

Performance Improvements

PostgreSQL 11 delivers notable performance gains across multiple areas:

• Parallel execution of CREATE INDEX for B-tree indexes
• Parallel sequential scans for more operations
• Improved hash join performance with better memory usage
• Faster vacuuming and index cleanup on large tables
• Better query planning for partitioned tables

Declarative Partitioning Enhancements

Partitioning has been greatly improved in PostgreSQL 11:

• Support for hash partitioning in addition to range and list
• Default partitioning for easier table creation
• Ability to create a default partition that catches values not matching any other partition
• Improved partition pruning for better query performance
• Support for primary keys and unique constraints on partitioned tables

SQL and Developer Features

PostgreSQL 11 adds several useful features for developers:

• New GROUPING SETS, CUBE, and ROLLUP support for advanced analytics
• Improved support for stored procedures with transaction control
• New window functions including array_agg() and string_agg() over windows
• Support for covering indexes using the INCLUDE clause
• Enhanced JSON handling with new functions and operators

Security and Administration

Security and manageability have been strengthened with:

• New predefined roles such as pg_monitor, pg_read_all_settings, and pg_read_all_stats
• Improved logging with the ability to log only specific statements
• Better control over JIT compilation settings
• Enhanced authentication methods and password management

Monitoring and Observability

Other Notable Changes

Additional improvements include:

• Removal of several long-deprecated features
• Better support for large databases with improved TOAST handling
• Enhanced JIT compilation performance
• More efficient WAL writing and checkpointing

Migration Considerations

When upgrading to PostgreSQL 11, keep these points in mind:

• Review your partitioning strategy as hash partitioning is now available
• Test applications that rely on stored procedures due to transaction control improvements
• Evaluate the performance benefits of covering indexes and parallel operations
• Update monitoring tools to use the new predefined roles

PostgreSQL 11 offers a strong combination of performance improvements, new partitioning capabilities, and developer-friendly features, making it a valuable upgrade for most production environments.