--- title: "PostGIS Performance: Simplification" url: https://daily.dev/posts/postgis-performance-simplification-uzmdnf7sb source_url: https://www.crunchydata.com/blog/postgis-performance-simplification type: article source: "Crunchy Data" published: 2025-12-09T13:04:21.671Z updated: 2025-12-09T13:04:42.335Z tags: ["performance", "sql", "postgresql"] reading_time: 3 upvotes: 2 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # PostGIS Performance: Simplification **[Crunchy Data](https://daily.dev/sources/crunchydata)** · 3 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary PostGIS offers multiple geometry simplification functions to reduce vertex count and improve performance. ST_Simplify uses Douglas-Peuker algorithm for line simplification, while ST_SimplifyVW applies Visvalingam-Whyatt for better polygon shape preservation. ST_ReducePrecision snaps to a grid while maintaining validity, unlike ST_SnapToGrid which can create invalid geometries. For shared boundaries, ST_CoverageClean and ST_CoverageSimplify handle groups of polygons while preserving topology. Combining techniques like ST_ReducePrecision with ST_Simplify often yields optimal results. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [PostGIS Performance: Improve Bounding Boxes...](https://daily.dev/posts/postgis-performance-improve-bounding-boxes--zcjfqb3vi) · Crunchy Data · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [PostGIS Performance: Intersection Predicates...](https://daily.dev/posts/postgis-performance-intersection-predicates--qvmouzxcq) · Crunchy Data · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [2025 PostGIS & GEOS Release](https://daily.dev/posts/2025-postgis-geos-release-brd4elihv) · Crunchy Data · 4 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#performance](https://daily.dev/tags/performance), [#sql](https://daily.dev/tags/sql), [#postgresql](https://daily.dev/tags/postgresql) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/postgis-performance-simplification-uzmdnf7sb)