PostgreSQL 17 is out today as the newest annual feature release to this widely-used SQL database server. Notable with PostgreSQL 17 is having an AVX-512 optimized bit_count function along with several other heavy hitting performance optimizations.

PostgreSQL 17 brings an AVX-512 optimized bit_count() function. The AVX-512 work has seen a . PostgreSQL 17 also brings SIMD-optimized JSON escaping for up to 4x the query performance.

PostgreSQL 17 also has a new internal memory structure for vacuum that consumes up to 20x less memory! Plus improvements to the I/O layer can yield up to 2x better write throughput for high concurrency workloads thanks to write-ahead log (WAL) processing enhancements. Plus there are other performance improvements too.

Some other PostgreSQL 17 additions include JSON_TABLE support, new MERGE features, a new collation provider, incremental backups support with pg_basebackup, and other feature additions and improvements.

Downloads and more details on the PostgreSQL 17 feature release via PostgreSQL.org . I'll be running some new PostgreSQL benchmarks soon against PostgreSQL 17.0.