True, an integer occupies four bytes, while a bigint needs eight. Should I use integer( serial) or bigint( bigserial) for my auto-generated primary key?

The big disadvantage of a trigger is the performance impact. This is similar to DEFAULT values, but it allows you to unconditionally override a value inserted by the user with a generated value. You can specify sequence options for identity columns: There is also “ GENERATED BY DEFAULT AS IDENTITY”, which is the same, except that you won’t get an error message if you try to explicitly insert a value for the column (much like with a DEFAULT clause). This is another way to use a sequence, because PostgreSQL uses sequences “behind the scenes” to implement identity columns. Using serial will create an integer column, while bigserial will create a bigint column. The “ OWNED BY” clause adds a dependency between the column and the sequence, so that dropping the column automatically drops the sequence. SET DEFAULT nextval('uses_serial_id_seq') With this method, you define a table as follows:

This method is a shortcut for defining a sequence and setting a DEFAULT clause as above. Using the serial and bigserial pseudo-types PostgreSQL uses the DEFAULT value whenever the INSERT statement doesn’t explicitly insert that column. Id uuid DEFAULT gen_random_uuid() PRIMARY KEY, Id bigint DEFAULT nextval('integer_id_seq') PRIMARY KEY, You can use this method with sequences and UUIDs. There are four ways to define a column with automatically generated values: Using the DEFAULT clause Don’t try to convert them to strings or numeric - you will waste space and lose performance. Note that you should always use the PostgreSQL data type uuid for UUIDs.

From PostgreSQL v13 on, you can use the core function gen_random_uuid() to generate version-4 (random) UUIDs.

Note that because of the hyphen in the name, you have to quote the name of the extension ( CREATE EXTENSION 'uuid-ossp' ).

The uuid-ossp extension offers functions to generate UUIDs.

In PostgreSQL, there are a number of functions that generate UUIDs: There are several standardized algorithms for that. Generating UUIDsĪ UUID (universally unique identifier) is a 128-bit number that is generated with an algorithm that effectively guarantees uniqueness. See the documentation for other functions to manipulate sequences. To fetch the next value from a sequence you use the nextval function like this: If you are looking for a way to generate a gapless sequence of numbers, a sequence is not the right choice, and you will have to resort to less efficient and more complicated techniques. This is required for good performance, and it does not constitute a problem. Sequences don’t follow the normal transactional rules: if a transaction rolls back, the sequence does not reset its counter. Still, accessing a sequence from many concurrent SQL statements could become a bottleneck, so there is the CACHE option that makes the sequence hand out several values at once to database sessions. Sequences are highly optimized for concurrent access, and they will never issue the same number twice. It does this using an internal counter that it increments. There are two basic techniques: Generating keys with a sequenceĪ sequence is a database object whose sole purpose in life is to generate unique numbers. Techniques for auto-generated primary keys in PostgreSQL Some people even argue that you should use an artificial primary key even if there is a natural one, but I won’t go into that “holy war”. But typically, there is no such attribute, and you have to generate an artificial primary key. Now, sometimes a table has a natural primary key, for example the social security number of a country’s citizens.

This is because foreign key constraints typically reference primary keys, and changing a primary key that is referenced elsewhere causes trouble or unnecessary work. You are well advised to choose a primary key that is not only unique, but also never changes during the lifetime of a table row. If you wonder why, search the internet for the thousands of questions asking for help with removing duplicate entries from a table. In a relational database, it is important to be able to identify an individual table row. Why auto-generated primary keys?Įvery table needs a primary key. In this article, I’ll explore the options and give recommendations. UPDATED : Sometimes customers ask me about the best choice for auto-generated primary keys.

Postgresql serial auto increment