Re: PostgreSQL 17 Beta 1 release announcement draft

On Thu, May 16, 2024, 02:45 Jonathan S. Katz <jkatz(at)postgresql(dot)org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Attached is a copy of the PostgreSQL 17 Beta 1 release announcement
> draft. This contains a user-facing summary of some of the features that
> will be available in the Beta, as well as a call to test. I've made an
> effort to group them logically around the different workflows they affect.
>
> A few notes:
>
> * The section with the features is not 80-char delimited. I will do that
> before the final copy
>
> * There is an explicit callout that we've added in the SQL/JSON features
> that were previously reverted in PG15. I want to ensure we're
> transparent about that, but also use it as a hook to get people testing.
>
> When reviewing:
>
> * Please check for correctness of feature descriptions, keeping in mind
> this is targeted for a general audience
>
> * Please indicate if you believe there's a notable omission, or if we
> should omit any of these callouts
>
> * Please indicate if a description is confusing - I'm happy to rewrite
> to ensure it's clearer.
>
> Please provide feedback no later than Wed 2024-05-22 18:00 UTC. As the
> beta release takes some extra effort, I want to ensure all changes are
> in with time to spare before release day.
>

"Now as of PostgreSQL 17, you can now use parallel index builds for [BRIN](
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/brin.html) indexes."

The 2nd "now" is redundant.

"Finally, PostgreSQL 17 adds more explicitly SIMD instructions, including
AVX-512 support for the [`bit_count](
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/functions-bitstring.html) function."

Would "SIMD-explicit instructions" be better? Also, I know you may not be
using markdown for the final version, but the bit_count backtick isn't
matched by a closing backtick.

"[`COPY`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/sql-copy.html), used to
efficiently bulk load data into PostgreSQL"

The "used to" makes me stumble into reading it as meaning "it previously
could efficiently bulk load data".

Perhaps just add a "which is" before "used"?

"PostgreSQL 17 includes a built-in collation provider that provides similar
semantics to the `C` collation provided by libc."

"provider", "provides", and "provided" feels too repetitive.

How about, "PostgreSQL 17 includes a built-in collation provider with
semantics similar to the `C` collation offered by libc."?

Regards

Thom