Add Generate Modern Primary Key Columns as a Postgres TIL

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pairing with smart people at Hashrocket.
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://crafty-builder-6996.ck.page/e169c61186).
 
-_1446 TILs and counting..._
+_1447 TILs and counting..._
 
 ---
 
@@ -736,6 +736,7 @@ _1446 TILs and counting..._
 - [Fizzbuzz With Common Table Expressions](postgres/fizzbuzz-with-common-table-expressions.md)
 - [Force SSL When Making A psql Connection](postgres/force-ssl-when-making-a-psql-connection.md)
 - [Generate A UUID](postgres/generate-a-uuid.md)
+- [Generate Modern Primary Key Columns](postgres/generate-modern-primary-key-columns.md)
 - [Generate Random UUIDs Without An Extension](postgres/generate-random-uuids-without-an-extension.md)
 - [Generate Series Of Numbers](postgres/generate-series-of-numbers.md)
 - [Generating UUIDs With pgcrypto](postgres/generating-uuids-with-pgcrypto.md)

postgres/generate-modern-primary-key-columns.md

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Generate Modern Primary Key Columns
+
+Chances are if you have looked at some examples, blog posts, or real-world
+instances of a `create table` statement, it defined the primary key with
+`serial` (or `bigserial`).
+
+```sql
+create table books (
+  id serial primary key,
+  title text not null,
+  author text not null,
+  created_at timestamptz not null default now(),
+  updated_at timestamptz not null default now()
+);
+```
+
+The `serial` syntax is everywhere, but for quite a while now it has not been
+the recommended way to define a primary key column for the `int` or `bigint`
+data types.
+
+The ["Don't Do This" page of the PostgreSQL
+wiki](https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Don%27t_Do_This#Don.27t_use_serial) says
+"Don't use serial".
+
+> For new applications, identity columns should be used instead. The serial
+> types have some weird behaviors that make schema, dependency, and permission
+> management unnecessarily cumbersome.
+
+The modern way to define a primary key column for `int` or `bigint` is with a
+generated identity column.
+
+```sql
+create table books (
+  id int primary key generated always as identity,
+  title text not null,
+  author text not null,
+  created_at timestamptz not null default now(),
+  updated_at timestamptz not null default now()
+);
+```
+
+Check out the PostgreSQL docs for more about [identity
+columns](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/ddl-identity-columns.html).