Will Leinweber: Embracing the Web with JSON and PLV8

JSON is the lingua franca of the web, and with Postgres 9.2 it is a native datatype. This talk introduces the JSON datatype and the complimentary PLV8 Javascript extension by investigating an application built using both. The new JSON datatype in Postgres 9.2 is interesting enough on its own, however when combined with PLV8 Javascript it becomes very exciting. Never before has there been a datatype and a PL designed to work with together. Combining these two transforms Postgres from a standard relational database into a schema-less document store and opens up several new use cases. This talk will explore what makes the document model compelling for many application developers. It will also go into detail what is enabled by having Javascript and JSON in the database. We will take a deep dive into an application built using PLV8 to see the advantages (and disadvantages) of developing an application using these techniques. The promise of using one language and data format from the front end, to the application tier, to the database is attractive, but does that promise deliver? Find out! To get the most out of this talk you should have at least a basic understanding of using Postgres, and a moderate understanding of Javascript.