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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>Preface</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 11.5 Documentation" /><link rel="next" href="intro-whatis.html" title="1. What is PostgreSQL?" /></head><body><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/transitional" class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">Preface</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 11.5 Documentation">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"> </td><th width="60%" align="center"> </th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 11.5 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="intro-whatis.html" title="1. What is PostgreSQL?">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></hr></div><div class="preface" id="PREFACE"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title">Preface</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="intro-whatis.html">1. What is <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="history.html">2. A Brief History of <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span></a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="history.html#HISTORY-BERKELEY">2.1. The Berkeley <span class="productname">POSTGRES</span> Project</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="history.html#HISTORY-POSTGRES95">2.2. <span class="productname">Postgres95</span></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="history.html#id-1.3.5.6">2.3. <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span></a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="notation.html">3. Conventions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="resources.html">4. Further Information</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="bug-reporting.html">5. Bug Reporting Guidelines</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="bug-reporting.html#id-1.3.8.5">5.1. Identifying Bugs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="bug-reporting.html#id-1.3.8.6">5.2. What to Report</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="bug-reporting.html#id-1.3.8.7">5.3. Where to Report Bugs</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><p>
This book is the official documentation of
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>. It has been written by the
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> developers and other
volunteers in parallel to the development of the
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> software. It describes all
the functionality that the current version of
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> officially supports.
</p><p>
To make the large amount of information about
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> manageable, this book has been
organized in several parts. Each part is targeted at a different
class of users, or at users in different stages of their
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> experience:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="xref" href="tutorial.html" title="Part I. Tutorial">Part I</a> is an informal introduction for new users.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="xref" href="sql.html" title="Part II. The SQL Language">Part II</a> documents the <acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym> query
language environment, including data types and functions, as well
as user-level performance tuning. Every
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> user should read this.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="xref" href="admin.html" title="Part III. Server Administration">Part III</a> describes the installation and
administration of the server. Everyone who runs a
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> server, be it for private
use or for others, should read this part.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="xref" href="client-interfaces.html" title="Part IV. Client Interfaces">Part IV</a> describes the programming
interfaces for <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> client
programs.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="xref" href="server-programming.html" title="Part V. Server Programming">Part V</a> contains information for
advanced users about the extensibility capabilities of the
server. Topics include user-defined data types and
functions.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="xref" href="reference.html" title="Part VI. Reference">Part VI</a> contains reference information about
SQL commands, client and server programs. This part supports
the other parts with structured information sorted by command or
program.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="xref" href="internals.html" title="Part VII. Internals">Part VII</a> contains assorted information that might be of
use to <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> developers.
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="index.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"> </td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="intro-whatis.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">PostgreSQL 11.5 Documentation </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> 1. What is <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>?</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
