Re: How does TOAST compare to other databases' mechanisms?

> Tom Lane wrote:
> > Frank Joerdens <frank@joerdens.de> writes:
> > > Can I go around bragging to my SQL-minded friends about using this
> > > really cool thing that no other database has, or should I keep my mouth
> > > shut because it's actually not so cool?
> >
> > IMHO it's pretty cool.  You get the benefits of BLOB storage without
> > having to deal with weird declarations or access methods.  I have no
> > idea whether any other databases do it the same way, but simply removing
> > the limit on physical tuple length wouldn't have been as nice.  See,
> > with a toasted column, you don't pay to suck the contents of the column
> > into memory when you read the row for a query that doesn't actually touch
> > that column.  So, for example, you might have a table declared like

I think TOAST is a classic case of the Internet group coming up with a
better solution than any company could.  No one had all the ideas of
TOAST, but together, we came up with a solution that has all the
advantages and no downside.  The long values stay out of the main table,
and use the existing database indexing structure to access them when needed.

--
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026