{"id":9598,"date":"2022-09-14T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T19:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monodes.com\/predaelli\/?p=9598"},"modified":"2022-09-14T17:05:22","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T15:05:22","slug":"choosing-a-postgres-primary-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monodes.com\/predaelli\/2022\/09\/14\/choosing-a-postgres-primary-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing a Postgres Primary Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a> Choosing a Postgres Primary Key<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Choosing a Postgres Primary Key<\/h1>\n
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2022-09-08<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

24 minute read<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Victor<\/span>Guest Author<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Primary keys are important. They uniquely identify rows of data in tables, and make it easy to fetch data. The job of a database is to archive and recall data and you’re going to have a hard time finding data without a good primary key or a good index.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it makes sense to use a \u201cnatural key\u201d<\/a> (like an email<\/code> column in a users<\/code> table) and sometimes it\u2019s better to use a \u201csurrogate key\u201d<\/a>, a value made for the purpose<\/em> of identifying a row (and has no other meaning).<\/p>\n

At first glance, the question of which<\/em> primary key to use is easy! Just throw a integer<\/code>\/serial<\/code> on there, right? Numeric IDs are cool, but what about random value IDs or Universally Unique IDentifiers (UUIDs)<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Turns out the question of which identifier (and in this case, UUID) to use is complicated — we’re going to dive into some of the complexity and inherent trade-offs, and figure things out:<\/p>\n