# New Feature Overview

> Source chapter 2 for PostgreSQL 9.6.

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LLMS index: [llms.txt](/en/llms.txt)

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<div class="feature-source-note"><span class="feature-edition-badge">Beta 1</span><span><strong>Source pages:</strong> PDF 6-8</span><span><a href="https://github.com/nori-shinoda/documents/blob/1773200c5362476c4a549222b7d17fa91f546cae/postgresql96_beta1_new_features_en_20160606-1.pdf">Original PDF on GitHub</a></span></div>

<p class="feature-page-marker" id="pgfeat-9-6-summary-pdf-page-6">PDF page 6</p>

PostgreSQL 9.6 has many new features and improvements.

### 2.1 Improve Performance {#pg9-6-2-1-improve-performance}

Performance has been improved in the following part:

#### Use quicksort to external sort {#pg9-6-p6-use-quicksort-to-external-sort}

#### Estimate accuracy improvement of the GROUP BY clause {#pg9-6-p6-estimate-accuracy-improvement-of-the-group-by-clause}

#### Use a foreign key to the predicted join {#pg9-6-p6-use-a-foreign-key-to-the-predicted-join}

#### Writing performance improvement such as checkpoint and bgwriter {#pg9-6-p6-writing-performance-improvement-such-as-checkpoint-and-bgwriter}

#### The execution of the Index Only Scan with {#pg9-6-p6-the-execution-of-the-index-only-scan-with}

partial indexes

#### Speed up CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY statement {#pg9-6-p6-speed-up-create-index-concurrently-statement}

#### And so force {#pg9-6-p6-and-so-force}

### 2.2 Added Features {#pg9-6-2-2-added-features}

The major additional features are listed below. The number in parentheses is the number of the chapter in this document for details.

#### Parallel Seq Scan (3.5) {#pg9-6-p6-parallel-seq-scan-3-5}

#### Monitoring Wait Stats (3.6) {#pg9-6-p6-monitoring-wait-stats-3-6}

#### Enhancement of FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER object (3.7) {#pg9-6-p6-enhancement-of-foreign-data-wrapper-object-3-7}

#### Synchronous replication with multiple synchronous standby servers (3.8) {#pg9-6-p6-synchronous-replication-with-multiple-synchronous-standby-servers-3-8}

#### Avoid Full-Table Vacuum (3.1.4) {#pg9-6-p6-avoid-full-table-vacuum-3-1-4}

#### Snapshot Too Old implementation by configurable timeout (3.3.1) {#pg9-6-p6-snapshot-too-old-implementation-by-configurable-timeout-3-3-1}

#### Improvement of various Contrib module (3.1.3) {#pg9-6-p6-improvement-of-various-contrib-module-3-1-3}

#### Improvement of various utilities (3.2) {#pg9-6-p6-improvement-of-various-utilities-3-2}

#### Catalog for Activity of WAL receiver (3.1.1) {#pg9-6-p6-catalog-for-activity-of-wal-receiver-3-1-1}

#### Generic WAL Records {#pg9-6-p6-generic-wal-records}

#### Non-exclusive base online backup (3.4.7) {#pg9-6-p6-non-exclusive-base-online-backup-3-4-7}

#### And so force {#pg9-6-p6-and-so-force-2}

<p class="feature-page-marker" id="pgfeat-9-6-summary-pdf-page-7">PDF page 7</p>

### 2.3 SQL Improvements {#pg9-6-2-3-sql-improvements}

The following SQL statements are newly supported. The number in parentheses is the number of the chapter in this document for details.

#### COPY enhancement (3.4.1) {#pg9-6-p7-copy-enhancement-3-4-1}

#### ALTER TABLE ADD COLUMN enhancement (3.4.2) {#pg9-6-p7-alter-table-add-column-enhancement-3-4-2}

#### ALTER TABLESPACE SET enhancement (3.4.3) {#pg9-6-p7-alter-tablespace-set-enhancement-3-4-3}

#### CREATE EXTENSION enhancement (3.4.4) {#pg9-6-p7-create-extension-enhancement-3-4-4}

#### ALTER OPERATOR enhancement (3.4.5) {#pg9-6-p7-alter-operator-enhancement-3-4-5}

#### CREATE / ALTER FUNCTION PARALLEL SAFE / UNSAFE (3.5) {#pg9-6-p7-create-alter-function-parallel-safe-unsafe-3-5}

#### CREATE ACCESS METHOD statement added {#pg9-6-p7-create-access-method-statement-added}

#### CREATE TABLE ... LIKE enhancement {#pg9-6-p7-create-table-like-enhancement}

#### Added functions (3.4.6 / 3.4.7) {#pg9-6-p7-added-functions-3-4-6-3-4-7}

#### And so force {#pg9-6-p7-and-so-force}

Other new features are described in the PostgreSQL 9.6 Beta Documentation Appendix E. Release Notes ([http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/release-9-6.html](http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/release-9-6.html)).

<p class="feature-page-marker" id="pgfeat-9-6-summary-pdf-page-8">PDF page 8</p>

## 3 New Feature Details {#pg9-6-3-new-feature-details}