Re: RFC: PostgreSQL Add-On Network

"David E. Wheeler" <david(at)kineticode(dot)com> writes:

> On Jan 7, 2010, at 2:11 PM, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
>
>> You might want to clarify in your prose what an "extension" is. I
>> suspect I know what you mean, but perhaps not everyone does.
>
> Good suggestion, thanks. How about this in the FAQ?
>
> * WTF is an "extension"?
>
> An extension is a piece of software that adds functionality to
> PostgreSQL itself. Examples are data types (CITEXT, PERIOD), utilities
> (newsysviews, pgTAP), and procedural languages (PL/Ruby, PL/R), among
> others. An extension is *not* a piece of software designed to run on
> top of PostgreSQL (Bricolage, Drupal).

Maybe with a link to:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/static/extend.html

In the sections that follow, we will discuss how you can extend the
PostgreSQL SQL query language by adding:

- functions (starting in Section 34.3)
- aggregates (starting in Section 34.10)
- data types (starting in Section 34.11)
- operators (starting in Section 34.12)
- operator classes for indexes (starting in Section 34.14)

The PostgreSQL server can moreover incorporate user-written code into
itself through dynamic loading. That is, the user can specify an
object code file (e.g., a shared library) that implements a new type
or function, and PostgreSQL will load it as required. Code written in
SQL is even more trivial to add to the server. This ability to modify
its operation "on the fly" makes PostgreSQL uniquely suited for rapid
prototyping of new applications and storage structures.

Regards,
--
dim