103 cards
This deck is a focused review of PostgreSQL performance tuning, covering the questions that come up most often when you want a database to run faster. You'll find cards on diagnosing slow queries with system statistics and pg_stat_statements, reading EXPLAIN plans, choosing the right index type for different workloads (B-tree, GIN, GiST, BRIN, and JSONB-specific expressions), and keeping tables healthy through vacuuming, analyzing, and managing bloat. Together these topics form a practical toolkit for finding and fixing the most common sources of sluggishness in a Postgres instance.
The material is best suited for developers and DBAs who already have some day-to-day experience with PostgreSQL and want a more structured way to deepen their knowledge. If you're preparing for an interview, tuning a production system, or simply want to stop guessing about why a query is slow, these cards will help you build a clear mental model of where to look and what to try first.
Because many of the questions hinge on understanding relationships between concepts (for example, the trade-off between a sequential scan and an index scan, or the difference between VACUUM and VACUUM FULL), spaced repetition is especially effective here. Try short review sessions over several days rather than cramming everything at once, and when you get a card wrong, take a moment to picture the underlying scenario before moving on. Pair the deck with a local Postgres instance so you can run EXPLAIN, create sample indexes, and watch autovacuum in action, turning each flashcard into something you can verify in practice.