Understanding Pagination Techniques in PostgreSQL

Five ways to paginate in Postgres, from the basic to the exotic 🔗

Pagination, pervasive as it is in web applications, is easy to implement inefficiently. This post examines different methods of server-side pagination and their tradeoffs in PostgreSQL. Methods explored include limit-offset, cursors, keyset pagination, as well as more exotic techniques.

Pagination in PostgreSQL can be implemented using various techniques, each with its advantages and disadvantages. The article explores five primary methods, starting from the common limit-offset approach, which is fast but can lead to inconsistencies and inefficiencies with large datasets. It also discusses cursor-based pagination, which ensures consistency but can consume more resources. Keyset pagination offers speed and reliability for ordered data, while more advanced methods like TID scans and hybrid approaches using PostgreSQL's statistics collector allow for specific use cases requiring random access. Overall, the choice of pagination technique should depend on application needs, data characteristics, and performance requirements.

What is the main issue with limit-offset pagination?

Limit-offset pagination can lead to result inconsistencies and inefficiencies, especially with large offsets, as it may cause omissions or duplications of records.

When should cursors be used for pagination?

Cursors are best for single-server intranet applications where consistent results are crucial, and the number of concurrent connections is limited.

What is keyset pagination and when is it preferred?

Keyset pagination is a method that allows fast and consistent access to ordered records by using indexed values. It is preferred in scalable applications that serve data sequentially from indexed columns.