database-design

Database schema design, optimization, and migration patterns for PostgreSQL, MySQL, and NoSQL databases. Use for designing schemas, writing migrations, or…

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SKILL.md

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-- Addresses table (separate entity)

CREATE TABLE addresses (

id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,

user_id INTEGER REFERENCES users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,

street VARCHAR(255),

city VARCHAR(100),

country VARCHAR(100),

is_primary BOOLEAN DEFAULT false

);

### Denormalization for Performance

-- When read performance matters more than write consistency

CREATE TABLE order_summaries (

id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,

order_id INTEGER REFERENCES orders(id),

customer_name VARCHAR(255), -- Denormalized from customers

total_amount DECIMAL(10,2),

item_count INTEGER,

last_updated TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()

);


## Index Design

### Common Index Patterns

-- B-tree (default) for equality and range queries

CREATE INDEX idx_users_email ON users(email);

-- Composite index (order matters!)

CREATE INDEX idx_orders_user_date ON orders(user_id, created_at DESC);

-- Partial index for specific conditions

CREATE INDEX idx_active_users ON users(email) WHERE deleted_at IS NULL;

-- GIN index for array/JSONB columns

CREATE INDEX idx_posts_tags ON posts USING GIN(tags);

-- Covering index (includes additional columns)

CREATE INDEX idx_orders_covering ON orders(user_id) INCLUDE (total, status);


### Index Analysis

-- Check index usage

SELECT

schemaname, tablename, indexname,

idx_scan, idx_tup_read, idx_tup_fetch

FROM pg_stat_user_indexes

ORDER BY idx_scan DESC;

-- Find missing indexes

SELECT

relname, seq_scan, seq_tup_read,

idx_scan, idx_tup_fetch

FROM pg_stat_user_tables

WHERE seq_scan > idx_scan

ORDER BY seq_tup_read DESC;


## Migration Patterns

### Safe Migration Template

-- Always use transactions

BEGIN;

-- Add column with default (non-blocking in PG 11+)

ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN status VARCHAR(20) DEFAULT 'active';

-- Create index concurrently (doesn't lock table)

CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY idx_users_status ON users(status);

-- Backfill data in batches

UPDATE users SET status = 'active' WHERE status IS NULL AND id BETWEEN 1 AND 10000;

COMMIT;


### Zero-Downtime Migrations
  1. Add new column (nullable)
  1. Deploy code that writes to both columns
  1. Backfill old data
  1. Deploy code that reads from new column
  1. Remove old column
  2. 
    ## Query Optimization
    
    ### EXPLAIN Analysis
    

-- Always use EXPLAIN ANALYZE

EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS, FORMAT TEXT)

SELECT * FROM orders WHERE user_id = 123 AND status = 'pending';

-- Key metrics to watch:

-- - Seq Scan vs Index Scan

-- - Actual rows vs Estimated rows

-- - Buffers: shared hit vs read


### Common Optimizations

-- Use EXISTS instead of IN for large sets

SELECT * FROM users u

WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM orders o WHERE o.user_id = u.id);

-- Pagination with keyset (cursor) instead of OFFSET

SELECT * FROM posts

WHERE created_at < '2024-01-01'

ORDER BY created_at DESC

LIMIT 20;

-- Use CTEs for complex queries

WITH active_users AS (

SELECT id FROM users WHERE last_login > NOW() - INTERVAL '30 days'

)

SELECT * FROM orders WHERE user_id IN (SELECT id FROM active_users);


## Constraints &#x26; Data Integrity

-- Primary key

ALTER TABLE users ADD PRIMARY KEY (id);

-- Foreign key with cascade

ALTER TABLE orders ADD CONSTRAINT fk_orders_user

FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;

-- Check constraint

ALTER TABLE products ADD CONSTRAINT chk_price_positive

CHECK (price >= 0);

-- Unique constraint

ALTER TABLE users ADD CONSTRAINT uniq_users_email UNIQUE (email);

-- Exclusion constraint (no overlapping ranges)

ALTER TABLE reservations ADD CONSTRAINT excl_no_overlap

EXCLUDE USING gist (room_id WITH =, tsrange(start_time, end_time) WITH &#x26;&#x26;);

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