Practical Databases articles from OpenStair Engineering.
November 9, 2025 · 17 min read
Learn how database connection pooling works, why oversized pools degrade performance, sizing mathematics, client vs. proxy pooling, and leak prevention.
November 8, 2025 · 25 min read
A technical guide comparing SQL and NoSQL databases across storage engine internals (B+Tree vs LSM), PACELC trade-offs, normalization vs embedding, and concrete transactional patterns.
November 7, 2025 · 14 min read
Master zero-downtime database migrations in production: the expand-contract pattern, PostgreSQL lock queues, safe DDL constraints, and batched backfills.
November 6, 2025 · 16 min read
A practical guide to database normalization (1NF through BCNF), relational anomalies, and production denormalization patterns like snapshots and materialized views.
November 5, 2025 · 18 min read
A deep dive into ACID guarantees, database transactions, MVCC visibility mechanics, isolation levels, write skew, distributed sagas, and resilient retry strategies.
November 4, 2025 · 16 min read
Understand SQL joins from relational algebra and multiset semantics to physical execution internals (Hash, Merge, Nested Loop), EXPLAIN plans, and production pitfalls.
