Cassandra vs PostgreSQL

Cassandra vs PostgreSQL | Popularity, Salary, Performance, Features, and Applications

Cassandra is an open-source NoSQL distributed database trusted by many companies for scalability and high availability without compromising performance.

It is designed to handle large amounts of data across many commodity servers, providing high availability with no single point of failure.

On the other hand, PostgreSQL is an open-source object-relational database that emphasizes extensibility and SQL compliance.


PostgreSQL is a very powerful database system, it is designed to handle a range of workloads, from single machines to data warehouses or Web services with many concurrent users.

PostgreSQL also extends the SQL language combined with many features that safely store and scale the most complicated data workloads.

One of the major differences between PostgreSQL and Cassandra is that PostgreSQL is a relational database system that uses the SQL language while Cassandra is a NoSQL database.

Comparing databases and choosing which one to learn or use for your next project can be tricky.

There are many factors to consider in order to choose the right database for the job you want to do.

Popularity, opportunities, type of projects, salaries, resources, learning curve, etc. are some of the factors that many people consider when comparing databases and choosing which one to learn or use.

Here are some of the comparisons and considerations you should make when choosing a Database.

CASSANDRA VS POSTGRESQL POPULARITY

Comparing the popularity of databases is not an easy task. Although the primary use of databases is to store and retrieve data, many databases are different in how they approach data storage and retrieval.

As a result, different fields and projects may require the use of different databases.

If you want to learn or use a database solely for its popularity among developers, you should learn and use PostgreSQL over Cassandra.

Generally, PostgreSQL is more popular than Cassandra. As of May 2023, DB-ENGINES  ranks PostgreSQL as the 4th most popular database and Cassandra is ranked as the 12th most popular database.

According to a Stack Overflow survey of 2022, PostgreSQL is the most popular database, it is used by 46.48% of professional developers.

On the other hand, Cassandra is the 13th most popular database, it is used by 2.73% of professional developers according to the same survey.

PostgreSQL is also loved by many developers than Cassandra within their respective communities.

As of 2022, PostgreSQL is the most loved database, it is loved by 72.08% of developers versus 27.92% of developers who dreaded it.

On the other hand, Cassandra is loved by 41% of developers versus 59% of developers who dreaded it.

Ultimately, if your choice of which database to learn or use depends on popularity, you should learn PostgreSQL over Cassandra.

CASSANDRA VS POSTGRESQL SALARY

Another popular criterion that many people use to compare databases and as an incentive to learn a new database technology is salary.

Salaries for developers differ from one company to the other and from one country to the other.

Experience is another factor that comes into play as far as salaries are concerned.

The more experience you have with a certain technology or programming language, the more likely you are of getting a higher salary.

Generally, Cassandra developers earn higher salaries than PostgreSQL developers.

According to a Stack Overflow survey of top-paying databases, Cassandra is the 3rd highest-paying database of 2022.

Cassandra developers get an average salary of $81,049 per year while PostgreSQL developers get an average salary of $70,385 per year.

So, if salary is your major incentive for learning a database technology, you should learn Cassandra over PostgreSQL, because you are more likely to get a higher salary as a Cassandra developer than as a PostgreSQL developer.

CASSANDRA VS POSTGRESQL WHICH ONE IS EASIER

Some database technologies can be learned more easily than others. PostgreSQL is generally considered easier than Cassandra.

Depending on your familiarity with different database systems, your prior experience with similar technologies, and your specific use case requirements, you may find Cassandra easier than PostgreSQL.

Using PostgreSQL requires a basic to good understanding of the SQL language. On the other hand, Cassandra requires a good understanding of NoSQL databases.

You can also use an SQL-like query language with Cassandra called Cassandra Query Language (CQL). This will make it easy to use Cassandra if you are coming from a relational database background.

PostgreSQL will be very easy to use for developers who are already familiar with SQL and relational data modeling.

The good news is that there are plenty of helpful resources for both PostgreSQL and Cassandra to help you learn the Database technologies.

The PostgreSQL and Cassandra communities are very big, active, and helpful, in case you get stuck with something.

CASSANDRA VS POSTGRESQL PERFORMANCE

Both PostgreSQL and Cassandra are high-performance databases. Cassandra is generally great for high availability and fault tolerance needs, while PostgreSQL is great for complex queries.

Cassandra is known for its excellent scalability and ability to handle massive amounts of data across a distributed environment.

It is built to provide high write throughput and can handle a large number of concurrent writes.

Cassandra’s architecture allows it to distribute data across multiple nodes, ensuring high availability and fault tolerance.

It is well-suited for use cases that require high-speed writes and where horizontal scalability is crucial, such as time-series data, sensor data, and log data.

However, Cassandra’s read performance can be impacted by the need for distributed queries and the eventual consistency model it follows.

PostgreSQL, on the other hand, is a more traditional relational database that is optimized for complex queries and data manipulation.

It is also highly optimized for read-heavy workloads and can efficiently handle complex joins, aggregations, and relational operations.

PostgreSQL’s query optimizer is highly advanced and can quickly generate efficient query plans for complex queries, even with large datasets.

PostgreSQL also supports various indexing techniques and advanced features like full-text search and geospatial queries, which can improve performance for specific use cases.

CASSANDRA VS POSTGRESQL FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS

Cassandra is a wide-column store, and, as such, essentially a hybrid between a key-value and a tabular database management system.

Cassandra was designed to implement a combination of Amazon’s Dynamo distributed storage and replication techniques combined with Google’s Bigtable data and storage engine model.

Cassandra is fault-tolerant, Distributed, linearly Scalable, Elastic, and it Supports replication and multi data center replication.

Cassandra is used by companies such as Apple, Netflix, Bloomberg, IBM, Instagram, eBay, Hulu, Uber, Dream11, Airship, Spotify, Target, Walmart, BlackRock, Constant Contact, BestBuy, Home Depot, Activision, Discord, and many others.

PostgreSQL is a feature-rich relational database management system (RDBMS) that offers a number of unique features that set it apart from other database systems.

It provides a rich set of extension points, which allows developers to extend the functionality of the database system using custom code.

PostgreSQL also provides a sophisticated concurrency control system that allows multiple users to access the database simultaneously without conflicts.

It supports multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), which allows reads and writes to occur simultaneously without locking the entire table or database.

PostgreSQL is used by companies such as Instagram, Apple, Heroku, Spotify, Netflix, Reddit, Twitch, Uber, BitLeap, Proximity Group, and many others.

WHY CHOOSE POSTGRESQL OVER CASSANDRA

Here are some of the reasons to choose PostgreSQL over Cassandra:

1. Relational Data: If your application or project requires structured and normalized data with complex relationships, PostgreSQL is an excellent choice.

It supports the SQL standard and provides advanced features for managing relational data.

2. ACID Compliance: PostgreSQL offers strong ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) compliance, ensuring data integrity and consistency.

This makes it suitable for applications that require transactional support, such as financial systems, e-commerce platforms, and applications with complex business logic.

3. Complex Queries: PostgreSQL has a mature and powerful query optimizer, making it highly efficient at executing complex queries.

It supports a wide range of SQL features, including subqueries, window functions, recursive queries, and joins.

This makes it well-suited for applications that involve complex data analysis, reporting, and data warehousing.

4. Geographic and Geospatial Data: PostgreSQL has built-in support for geographic data and geospatial indexing.

It enables you to store, query, and analyze geographic and spatial data, making it ideal for applications that involve mapping, GIS, and location-based services.

5. Community and Ecosystem: PostgreSQL has a large and active community with extensive support and resources.

It has been in development for decades and has a robust ecosystem of extensions, libraries, and tools.

This means you can benefit from a wide range of add-ons and community-driven solutions to enhance and extend PostgreSQL’s capabilities.

SHOULD I USE CASSANDRA OR POSTGRESQL

Once you have compared the databases and evaluated all the factors, you can choose which database technology to learn or use depending on the factors that are on your side and what you want to build.

If you want a popular, open-source object-relational database that you can use for complex queries, full-text search, Geospatial data, advanced datatypes, and more, you should learn PostgreSQL.

If you want a high-paying database that is fast for read operations, can handle large amounts of data, and is horizontally scalable, you should learn or use Cassandra.