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Andrew Atkinson
@andyatkinson.com
2.3K followers 140 following 330 posts
Author of High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails, Staff Engineer, Consultant, Speaker

andyatkinson.com/pgrailsbook
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Andrew Atkinson @andyatkinson.com · Oct 1
#1 in Ruby programming, top 80 all databases books, top 80k of all books on Amazon among millions. Alright! Thank you very much to readers!
Book page on Amazon screenshot Book page rankings by category on Amazon
andyatkinson.com
Thrilled to see my contributions to the custom DB sharding design help power the backend of the #1 ranked Apple App Store app over the weekend!
December 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
coe401.bsky.social
🎄🎁

Ruby 4.0.0 Released
www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2025...
Ruby 4.0.0 Released | Ruby
We are pleased to announce the release of Ruby 4.0.0.Ruby 4.0 introduces “Ruby Box” and “ZJIT”, and adds many improvements.
www.ruby-lang.org
December 25, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
alexis.bernard.io
If you update or delete often rows watching bloat tables and indexes is important. This article is a great explanation and I also recommend using the gem rails-pg-extras to watch bloat ratios: github.com/pawurb/rails...
December 23, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
vyruss.org
☃️ This holiday season, give the gift of Postgres! 🐘🎁

​Grab a copy of "PostgreSQL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them" to learn from the pros and optimize your database.

🏷️ ​Save 35% with code: au35ang

​Get it here: hubs.la/Q03Nc0hv0

​#TechBooks #Books #PostgreSQL #Postgres #OpenSource #Database
Jimmy Angelakos holding up a copy of the book PostgreSQL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
December 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
andyatkinson.com
Nice post! Via Creston Jamison / Scaling Postgres podcast

VACUUM Is a Lie (About Your Indexes)
boringsql.com/posts/vacuum...
VACUUM Is a Lie (About Your Indexes)
PostgreSQL VACUUM cleans tables but leaves indexes bloated. Learn why B-trees fragment and how to fix them properly.
boringsql.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
gunnarmorling.dev
🐘 Oh, that's nice: Postgres 19 is going to ship read-your-writes for standbys when using asynchronous replication, via a new command WAIT FOR LSN (similar to WAIT_FOR_EXECUTED_GTID_SET in MySQL). Very cool!

www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/w...
December 19, 2025 at 9:34 PM
andyatkinson.com
We're in the final phase of prep for Postgres infrastructure: online maintenance work, ahead of expected big load next week.

We're rebuilding all indexes for tables (concurrently) or individually for jumbo ones. Recent example reduced total index size (4) for a table by ~40%! (~50GB in this case).
December 19, 2025 at 6:36 PM
andyatkinson.com
Optimizing the index (micro optimization) supporting a query that runs at about 3100 QPS, expected to scale up further in the peak period. Added a custom covering index. Now it's an index only scan, no heap fetches, 4 shared buffer hits in total, 16 microseconds execution time. 👌
December 16, 2025 at 9:41 PM
andyatkinson.com
Scrolling HN this morning and saw my UUID v4 blog post was submitted and made it to the front page.

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4627...
Avoid UUIDv4 Primary Keys | Hacker News
news.ycombinator.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:39 PM
andyatkinson.com
Prod example today of game-changing alignment of query and targeted Postgres index. Added multicolumn index on an expression. 2.5m rows. Query duration avg 1200 ms. Slowest sample @pganalyze.bsky.social 2300 ms (2.3 seconds). With index exec now just 3 shared buffer hits, 1.2 ms. 99.99% faster!
December 12, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
pg-data.bsky.social
A quick reminder that the PG DATA 2026 Call for Proposals is still open!

Submit here: sessionize.com/pg-data-2026

#PGData2026 #PostgreSQL #PostgresCommunity #CallForPapers #CFP #TechSpeakers #DataConference #MidwestTech #ChicagoTech
December 10, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
pg-data.bsky.social
Meet the PG Data 2026 CFP Committee!

They’re shaping a program that highlights innovation, real-world Postgres expertise, and diverse voices. Inspiring talks that elevate the Midwest Postgres ecosystem!

#PGData2026 #PostgreSQL #PostgresCommunity #PGConf #CFPCommittee
December 6, 2025 at 3:47 AM
andyatkinson.com
Thanks to buyers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the save50 promo, and BFCM.

Great to see High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails back in the best sellers list! @pragprog.com
High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails book best seller for the holiday week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday Cyber Monday 2025
December 6, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
hettied.bsky.social
PG DATA CfP is open! We’re building a new Postgres conference series focused on education, community, and collaboration.

👉 Submit your talk proposal here: sessionize.com/pg-data-2026

Join us in June!

#PGData2026 #PostgreSQL #PostgresCommunity #MidwestTech #ChicagoTech
December 1, 2025 at 3:05 AM
andyatkinson.com
Newsletter issue sent to 1020 recipients!

50% off Prag Prog books. Conferences. Winding down 2025. — Issue #21

Subscribe here and ping me if you missed it and want to see it:
pgrailsbook.com
High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails
pgrailsbook.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
bradgessler.com
I collected all Ruby Black Friday deals I could find & posted them in one spot. Highlights include:

$130 off @beautifulruby.com Phlex on Rails course

$81 off @gorails.com annual subscription

+20% @joemasilotti.com Hotwire native content

Lots of @pragprog.com deals

Enjoy! 🦃🔥💰
2025 Ruby Black Friday Deals
Save money on Ruby books, courses, and software
beautifulruby.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
pragprog.com
Pragprog Early Black Friday sale
50% off with code Save50
Includes all Beta books
pragprog.com/categor...
November 24, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
searls.bsky.social
The job of a programmer is to manage exactly two things: uncertainty and complexity.

Code is sometimes an asset and sometimes a liability, but itself has no meaning outside the context of those two factors.
November 24, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
konnorrogers.com
If you're open to books, @andyatkinson.com 's "High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails" is on sale for 50% off.

bsky.app/profile/andy...
andyatkinson.com Andrew Atkinson @andyatkinson.com · Nov 19
Pragmatic Bookshelf has 50% off nearly every book including mine: pragprog.com/titles/aapsq...

Use code "save50" to get the e-book for around $20. Please share in your backend engineering team chat. Check out quotes from past readers: andyatkinson.com/pgrailsbook

Thanks for your support!
High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails
Build fast, scalable PostgreSQL and Rails apps. Solve data growth, quality, and reliability challenges, for workloads from consumer Internet to enterprise SaaS.
pragprog.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
audthecodewitch.dev
I'm really enjoying working through this book, and it's on sale! #WomenInTech #WomenWhoCode #TechSky
andyatkinson.com Andrew Atkinson @andyatkinson.com · Nov 19
Pragmatic Bookshelf has 50% off nearly every book including mine: pragprog.com/titles/aapsq...

Use code "save50" to get the e-book for around $20. Please share in your backend engineering team chat. Check out quotes from past readers: andyatkinson.com/pgrailsbook

Thanks for your support!
High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails
Build fast, scalable PostgreSQL and Rails apps. Solve data growth, quality, and reliability challenges, for workloads from consumer Internet to enterprise SaaS.
pragprog.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:52 PM
andyatkinson.com
Pragmatic Bookshelf has 50% off nearly every book including mine: pragprog.com/titles/aapsq...

Use code "save50" to get the e-book for around $20. Please share in your backend engineering team chat. Check out quotes from past readers: andyatkinson.com/pgrailsbook

Thanks for your support!
High Performance PostgreSQL for Rails
Build fast, scalable PostgreSQL and Rails apps. Solve data growth, quality, and reliability challenges, for workloads from consumer Internet to enterprise SaaS.
pragprog.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
incident.io
Big performance problems 🤝 tiny CS tricks

Our latest blog breaks down how bloom filters helped us take an API from 5s to 0.3s - even with millions of alerts in play.

If you’re fighting slow queries or Postgres under pressure, this one’s worth a look: go.incident.io/r9jgcI9
November 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
noelrappin.com
It's time for the big @pragprog.com Black Friday sale!

This year, 50% off with code "save50" -- I think this is the biggest sale in Prag Bookshelf history! Ends December 1st.

Go to media.pragprog.com/newsletters/... for more info.
Save 50% at the Pragmatic Bookshelf
media.pragprog.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
andyatkinson.com
Wale is great! Check this out. If you're looking for a Rails consultant get in touch with @wale-olaleye.bsky.social.
bsky.app/profile/indi...
indierails.com IndieRails @indierails.com · Nov 11
Episode 67 has a bit of a temperature! 🌡️ In this one, we sit down with @wale-olaleye.bsky.social, founder of Rails Fever, to chat about building a software consulting business, marketing and sales outreach, refining your messaging, and the value of being local and in-person.
www.indierails.com/67
IndieRails | Wale Olaleye - Helping Founders with Tech
Wale Olaleye of Rails Fever joins IndieRails to talk about what it really takes to build a consulting business. The conversation spans everything from refining your message and brand, “I help found...
www.indierails.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Andrew Atkinson
pgmustard.com
Thanks again for the idea Andy, blog post published, let us know if it could be clearer or more useful — Michael
www.pgmustard.com/blog/what-do...
What do the new Index Searches lines in EXPLAIN mean? - pgMustard
In Postgres 18 you’ll now see “Index Searches” lines in EXPLAIN ANALYZE output. If like me you were wondering what those mean exactly, you’re in the right place.
www.pgmustard.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM