Part I. Tutorial

Welcome to the Postgres-XL Tutorial. The following few chapters are intended to give a simple introduction to Postgres-XL, relational database concepts, and the SQL language to those who are new to any one of these aspects. We only assume some general knowledge about how to use computers. No particular Unix or programming experience is required. This part is mainly intended to give you some hands-on experience with important aspects of the Postgres-XL system. It makes no attempt to be a complete or thorough treatment of the topics it covers.

Throughout this documentation, the term PostgreSQL also refers to Postgres-XL unless specifically stated otherwise. We have deliberately retained the name PostgreSQL to emphasise that Postgres-XL inherits many things from PostgreSQL and is very similar to the parent product. The differeneces are clearly mentioned and also documented separately for easy reference (link required).

After you have worked through this tutorial you might want to move on to reading Part II to gain a more formal knowledge of the SQL language, or Part IV for information about developing applications for PostgreSQL. Those who set up and manage their own server should also read Part III.