Why We Default to PostgreSQL Over a NoSQL Database

When teams reach for a NoSQL database by default, it's usually because of a perceived need for flexibility. In practice, most application data has real relationships and benefits from constraints that a relational database enforces at write time rather than discovering violations later.

PostgreSQL in particular gives us the best of both worlds: strong relational guarantees alongside JSONB columns for genuinely flexible fields. We reach for a document store only when the access pattern is truly key-based with no relational structure.

This is the same reasoning behind the schema powering this site — normalized tables for structured content, JSONB only where flexibility genuinely earns its keep.