PostgreSQL 17 vs 18: Side‑by‑Side Performance Wins in Real‑World Queries

Simply upgrading PostgreSQL can make many everyday queries run faster, without any schema changes or application rewrites. In this talk, I’ll do a side‑by‑side comparison of Postgres 17 and 18 using common query patterns that developers and operators see in real systems. For each example, I’ll compare execution plans and runtimes to show where PostgreSQL 18 is faster and what planner or executor changes are responsible.