PGSQL Phriday #008 — pg_stat_statements

I’m proud to be the host of this month’s PGSQL Phriday event, the eighth so far.

Given my interest in database performance, the topic I’ve chosen for this month is… drumroll… pg_stat_statements (woo! yeah! cheers from the crowd!)

Hold up, what’s this PGSQL Phriday thing?

PGSQL Phriday is a new(ish) monthly community blogging event. The goal of it is to encourage folks to blog more, share knowledge, and learn from each other!

There are also a few simple rules for getting involved, here’s a summary:

  • Publish your blog post on Friday, 5th May 2023

  • Include “PGSQL Phriday #008” in your title or first paragraph

  • Link back to this invitation

  • Share your blog post, here are some good places:

  • Encourage and interact with others 😄

  • The following week (probably on Tuesday), I’ll post a roundup of all the posts

Why pg_stat_statements?

I picked pg_stat_statements as the topic for a few reasons! Firstly, I wanted a topic I could easily contribute a post on myself… but more importantly, I wanted one that people with all sorts of different backgrounds and experience levels could weigh in on. It’s also the most common answer to the question “What’s your favourite extension?” in Andreas’ excellent PostgreSQL Person of the Week series.

So, please feel free to take your post in any direction you want, as long as it has something to do with pg_stat_statements!

In case at all helpful, here are a few ideas:

  • Do you have a recent example where pg_stat_statements helped you solve a performance issue?

  • Is this the first time you’re hearing about it? Could you document the process of installing and using it for the first time?

  • What do you like or not like about it? How could it be improved?

  • Have you opted not to use it for some reason?

  • Have you benchmarked it’s overhead for your workload?

  • Is it a small part of a monitoring stack you’re proud of and can share?

  • What’s its history? When was it introduced, why, and how has it changed?

What if I haven’t blogged in forever?

If you’re new to blogging, or are feeling at all under-confident about getting involved, please feel free to reach out to me! I’m not a seasoned pro myself, but I’d be more than happy to help by reading a draft, discussing an idea, or even just giving you some encouraging words.

That’s it

There’s not much more to it than that, so happy blogging, and I look forward to seeing all of your posts next week! ✌️

Update: here is the roundup of posts, thanks all!