what's the utility of array type?

Question

I'm totally newbie with postgresql but I have a good experience with mysql. I was reading the documentation and I've discovered that postgresql has an array type. I'm quite confused since I can't understand in which context this type can be useful within a rdbms. Why would I have to choose this type instead of using a classical one to many relationship?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I've used them to make working with trees (such as comment threads) easier. You can store the path from the tree's root to a single node in an array, each number in the array is the branch number for that node. Then, you can do things like this:

SELECT id, content
FROM nodes
WHERE tree = X
ORDER BY path -- The array is here.

PostgreSQL will compare arrays element by element in the natural fashion so ORDER BY path will dump the tree in a sensible linear display order; then, you check the length of path to figure out a node's depth and that gives you the indentation to get the rendering right.

The above approach gets you from the database to the rendered page with one pass through the data.

PostgreSQL also has geometric types, simple key/value types, and supports the construction of various other composite types.

Usually it is better to use traditional association tables but there's nothing wrong with having more tools in your toolbox.