--- title: Unconventional PostgreSQL Optimizations | daily.dev description: PostgreSQL offers several unconventional optimization techniques beyond standard indexing. Setting `constraint_exclusion` to 'on' in BI environments prevents... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/unconventional-postgresql-optimizations-q9zlsjb3l twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Unconventional PostgreSQL Optimizations | daily.dev og:description: PostgreSQL offers several unconventional optimization techniques beyond standard indexing. Setting `constraint_exclusion` to 'on' in BI environments prevents... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/unconventional-postgresql-optimizations-q9zlsjb3l og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Q9zlSjB3l.png og:image:alt: Unconventional PostgreSQL Optimizations og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: 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. # Unconventional PostgreSQL Optimizations **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 19 min read · 1 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary PostgreSQL offers several unconventional optimization techniques beyond standard indexing. Setting `constraint_exclusion` to 'on' in BI environments prevents full table scans when queries violate check constraints. Function-based indexes on lower-cardinality expressions (like dates instead of timestamps) can reduce index size by 3x while improving query speed. Virtual generated columns in PostgreSQL 18 enforce consistent expression usage without storage overhead. Hash indexes combined with exclusion constraints can enforce uniqueness on large text values with 5x smaller footprint than B-tree indexes, though with limitations on foreign keys and some INSERT operations. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@ombratteng** · 0 upvotes > Really good suggestions! ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [9 Advanced PostgreSQL Features I Wish I Knew Sooner](https://daily.dev/posts/9-advanced-postgresql-features-i-wish-i-knew-sooner-nezidnbnu) · marmelab · 115 upvotes · 0 comments - [All Your GUCs in a Row: constraint\_exclusion](https://daily.dev/posts/all-your-gucs-in-a-row-constraint-exclusion-thbwdhnen) · Planet PostgreSQL · 13 upvotes · 0 comments - [Introduction to PostgreSQL Indexes ::](https://daily.dev/posts/introduction-to-postgresql-indexes--peasixbnz) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#performance](https://daily.dev/tags/performance), [#database](https://daily.dev/tags/database), [#sql](https://daily.dev/tags/sql), [#postgresql](https://daily.dev/tags/postgresql) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/unconventional-postgresql-optimizations-q9zlsjb3l) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Unconventional PostgreSQL Optimizations","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/unconventional-postgresql-optimizations-q9zlsjb3l","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/unconventional-postgresql-optimizations-q9zlsjb3l"},"datePublished":"2026-01-20T18:49:03.723Z","dateModified":"2026-01-20T18:50:01.487Z","description":"PostgreSQL offers several unconventional optimization techniques beyond standard indexing. 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