PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source relational database that drives countless applications worldwide. While its robustness and rich feature set are widely recognized, understanding and troubleshooting its internal behavior can be daunting for developers and database administrators. This session demystifies PostgreSQL’s source code and demonstrates how to debug it efficiently using Visual Studio Code (VS Code), a lightweight yet powerful development environment.

Join this hands-on session to explore the inner workings of PostgreSQL by diving into its source code. Whether you’re an experienced database administrator, a software engineer, or a curious open-source enthusiast, this session equips you with practical tools and techniques to analyze and debug PostgreSQL at the source level. We’ll start by setting up PostgreSQL’s development environment in VS Code, including downloading and configuring the source code, installing dependencies, and compiling PostgreSQL from scratch.

With the environment set up, we will focus on how to use VS Code’s integrated debugging capabilities to identify, trace, and resolve issues in PostgreSQL. You’ll learn how to configure breakpoints, step through complex code paths, and use logging to analyze behavior in critical areas like query parsing, execution, and storage management. We’ll also explore PostgreSQL’s modular architecture, showcasing how its components interact, and how to navigate its extensive codebase effectively.

By the end of this session, you’ll have a strong foundation to confidently debug PostgreSQL in VS Code. You’ll walk away with a clear understanding of its core architecture, practical debugging workflows, and tools to accelerate your journey as a PostgreSQL contributor or advanced user.