sql-programming

name	sql-programming
description	General SQL programming, formatting, debugging, and query-shaping tips. Use for SQL work that is not specifically about PostGIS spatial data.

Documentation

• Make sure every create statement or CTE has a descriptive comment -- in front of it.
• Write enough comments so you can deduce what was a requirement in the future and not walk in circles.
• Every feature needs to have comprehensive up-to-date documentation near it.

Style

• SQL is lowercase unless instructed otherwise.
• Values in databases and layers should be absolute as much as possible: store "birthday" or "construction date" instead of "age".
• Do not mix tabs and spaces in code.
• Add empty lines between logical blocks.
• Format the code nicely and consistently.

Indexing

• Consider BRIN indexes for very large naturally ordered tables that will be used for ad-hoc range queries.
• If you have a cache table that has a primary key, it can make sense to add frequently read values into including on the same index for faster lookup.

Debugging

• Make sure error messages towards developers are better than just "500 Internal Server Error".
• Don't stub stuff out with insane fallbacks like lat = 0 and lon = 0; instead make the rest of the code work around data absence and inform the user.
• SQL files should be idempotent: drop table if exists + create table as; add comments to make queries faster to grasp.
• Create both "up" and "down/rollback" migrations when the project expects reversible migrations.
• Don't run one SQL file from another SQL file - this quickly becomes a mess with relative file paths.

SQL Gotchas

• sum(case when A then 1 else 0 end) is just count() filter (where A).
• row_number() ... = 1 can likely be redone as order by + limit 1 (possibly with distinct on or lateral).
• exists(select 1 from ...) is just exists(select from ...).
• tags ->> 'key' = 'value' is just tags @> '{"key": "value"}' - works faster with indexes.
• You can't create an ordered table and then rely on it to be ordered on scan without order by.