PostgreSQL 16 Feature Highlights
--------------------------------
-### Logical replication enhancements
+### Performance
+
+PostgreSQL 16 includes performance improvements in query execution. This release
+adds more query parallelism, including allowing `FULL` and `RIGHT` joins to
+execute in parallel, and parallel execution of the `string_agg` and `array_agg`
+aggregate functions. Additionally, PostgreSQL 16 can use incremental sorts in
+`SELECT DISTINCT` queries. There are also several optimizations for
+[window queries](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/sql-expressions.html#SYNTAX-WINDOW-FUNCTIONS),
+improvements in lookups for `RANGE` and `LIST` partitions, and support for
+"anti-joins" in `RIGHT` and `OUTER` queries.
+
+This release also introduces support for CPU acceleration using SIMD for both
+x86 and ARM architectures, including optimizations for processing ASCII and JSON
+strings, and array and subtransaction searches. Additionally, PostgreSQL 16
+introduces [load balancing](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-LOAD-BALANCE-HOSTS)
+to libpq, the client library for PostgreSQL.
+
+### Logical Replication Enhancements
Logical replication lets PostgreSQL users stream data in real-time to other
PostgreSQL or other external systems that implement the logical protocol. Until
`UPDATE` or `DELETE` operations, and allow for tables to be copied using binary
format during initialization.
-### Performance
-
-PostgreSQL 16 includes performance improvements in query execution. This release
-adds more query parallelism, including allowing `FULL` and `OUTER` joins to
-execute in parallel, and parallel execution of the `string_agg` and `array_agg`
-aggregate functions. Additionally, PostgreSQL 16 can use incremental sorts in
-`SELECT DISTINCT` queries. There are also several optimizations for
-[window queries](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/sql-expressions.html#SYNTAX-WINDOW-FUNCTIONS),
-improvements in lookups for `RANGE` and `LIST` partitions, and support for
-"anti-joins" in `RIGHT` and `OUTER` queries.
-
-This release also introduces support for CPU acceleration using SIMD for both
-x86 and ARM architectures, including optimizations for processing ASCII and JSON
-strings, and array and substransaction searches. Additionally, PostgreSQL 16
-introduces [load balancing](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-LOAD-BALANCE-HOSTS)
-to libpq, the client library for PostgreSQL.
-
### Developer Experience
-PostgreSQL 16 continues to implement the [SQL/JSON](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/functions-json.html)
-standard for manipulating [JSON](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/datatype-json.html)
+PostgreSQL 16 continues to implement the [SQL/JSON](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/functions-json.html)
+standard for manipulating [JSON](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/datatype-json.html)
data, including support for SQL/JSON constructors (e.g. `JSON_ARRAY()`,
`JSON_ARRAYAGG()` et al), and identity functions (`IS JSON`). This release also
-adds the SQL standard [`ANY_VALUE`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/functions-aggregate.html#id-1.5.8.27.5.2.4.1.1.1.1)
+adds the SQL standard [`ANY_VALUE`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/functions-aggregate.html#id-1.5.8.27.5.2.4.1.1.1.1)
aggregate function, which returns any arbitrary value from the aggregate set.
For convenience, PostgreSQL 16 now lets you specify non-decimal integer
-literals, such as `0xff`, `0o777`, and `0b101010`, and use thousands separators,
-such as `5_432`.
+literals, such as `0xff`, `0o777`, and `0b101010`, and use underscores as
+thousands separators, such as `5_432`.
-This release adds support for the extended query protocol to the [`psql`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/app-psql.html)
+This release adds support for the extended query protocol to the [`psql`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/app-psql.html)
client. Users can execute a query, e.g. `SELECT $1 + $2`, and use the
-[`\bind`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/app-psql.html#APP-PSQL-META-COMMAND-BIND)
+[`\bind`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/app-psql.html#APP-PSQL-META-COMMAND-BIND)
command to substitute the variables.
-### Security features
+### Security Features
PostgreSQL 16 continues to give users the ability to grant privileged access to
features without requiring superuser with new
-[predefined roles](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/predefined-roles.html).
+[predefined roles](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/predefined-roles.html).
These include `pg_maintain`, which enables execution of operations such as
`VACUUM`, `ANALYZE`, `REINDEX`, and others, and `pg_create_subscription`, which
allows users to create a logical replication subscription. Additionally,
starting with this release, logical replication subscribers execute transactions
on a table as the table owner, not the superuser.
-PostgreSQL 16 now lets you use regular expressions in the [`pg_hba.conf`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/auth-pg-hba-conf.html)
-and [`pg_ident.conf`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/auth-username-maps.html)
+PostgreSQL 16 now lets you use regular expressions in the [`pg_hba.conf`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/auth-pg-hba-conf.html)
+and [`pg_ident.conf`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/auth-username-maps.html)
files for matching user and databases names. Additionally, PostgreSQL 16 adds
the ability to include other files in both `pg_hba.conf` and `pg_ident.conf`.
-PostgreSQL 16 also adds support for the SQL standard [`SYSTEM_USER`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/functions-info.html#id-1.5.8.32.3.4.2.2.24.1.1.1)
+PostgreSQL 16 also adds support for the SQL standard [`SYSTEM_USER`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/functions-info.html#id-1.5.8.32.3.4.2.2.24.1.1.1)
keyword, which returns the username and authentication method used to establish
a session.
PostgreSQL 16 also adds support for Kerberos credential delegation, which allows
extensions such as `postgres_fdw` and `dblink` to use the authenticated
credentials to connect to other services. This release also adds several new
-security-oriented connection parameters for clients. This includes [`require_auth`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-REQUIRE-AUTH),
+security-oriented connection parameters for clients. This includes [`require_auth`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-REQUIRE-AUTH),
where a client can specify which authentication methods it is willing to accept
-from the server. You can now set `sslrootcert` to `system` to instrcut
+from the server. You can now set `sslrootcert` to `system` to instruct
PostgreSQL to use the trusted certificate authority (CA) store provided by the
client's operating system.
-### Operations
+### Monitoring and Management
PostgreSQL 16 adds several new monitoring features, including the new
-[`pg_stat_io`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-IO-VIEW)
+[`pg_stat_io`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-IO-VIEW)
view that provides information on I/O statistics. This release also provides a
-timestamp for the last time that a [table or index was scanned](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-ALL-TABLES-VIEW).
+timestamp for the last time that a [table or index was scanned](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-ALL-TABLES-VIEW).
There are also improvements to the normalization algorithm used for
`pg_stat_activity`.
PostgreSQL 16 adds additional compression options to `pg_dump`, including
support for both `lz4` and `zstd` compression.
-
### Other Notable Changes
PostgreSQL 16 removes the `promote_trigger_file` option to enable the promotion
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