PostgreSQL Indexing Strategies for High Scale
A pragmatic guide to B-tree, BRIN, GIN, and partial indexes for query performance optimization.
Understanding B-Tree vs. Specialized Indexes
While standard B-Tree indexes handle 90% of lookup queries, high-throughput time-series or JSONB query workloads benefit massively from BRIN (Block Range Index) and GIN indexes, reducing storage footprints by up to 85%.
Partial and Composite Indexes
Partial indexes allow you to index only rows matching a specific WHERE clause, such as `WHERE status = 'active'`. This keeps index sizes small and cache-friendly.