LinkedIn Live: Fixing Bad SQL in PostgreSQL with Jimmy Angelakos

Back on Friday, April 3rd, I ran a live, hands-on LinkedIn Live session on fixing bad SQL in PostgreSQL. My apologies for the delay in sharing the recording: for various reasons I couldn't post it earlier, but here it is.

The session was based on Chapter 2 of my book, PostgreSQL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (Manning), and it zeroes in on the common SQL anti-patterns that quietly lead to incorrect results and hidden performance issues.

I kept it hybrid: short, concise explanations paired with live terminal demos on real-world examples. For each mistake, I show you the problematic query in action, explain why it leads to incorrect results or slow execution, and then walk through a practical refactor that fixes it, often unlocking proper index usage and more efficient execution along the way.

It's a mix of everyday correctness pitfalls and the subtler performance traps, the kind that slip straight through code review and then quietly hurt you in production. If you write SQL or review database code, I hope you'll come away with concrete techniques you can apply immediately to write safer (and faster!) Postgres queries.

Without further ado, here's the recording:

Video on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=SxIgD1OfU_A

I'd love to hear what you think. You can always reach me at @vyruss@fosstodon.org with your questions, your own SQL horror stories, or the refactors that saved your bacon.

If you enjoyed this and want the whole collection of mistakes (and how to avoid them), the book is right here 👇