PostgreSQL's Imperfections
If I could have one thing on that list fixed it would be #9 - no planner hints.<p>I used Oracle (6 through 11) for both bespoke applications and to back large third party systems.  I never saw widespread abuse of hints.  Yet they were immensely helpful during development and troubleshooting.  I put perhaps two queries into production with hints over 10+ years.  No one ever had a reason to complain about either.<p>There are no perfect query planners.  There is no perfect analysis.  The notion that one must submit entirely to the mercy of PostgreSQL's no-hints dogma causes me to harbor some resentment.  Fortunately you can frequently abuse CTEs to achieve a desired access pattern because (until recently) CTEs were an "optimization fence."  But I've also resorted to creating functions and other hacks.<p>So I conclude the policy is simply wrong headed; there is no legitimate reason to fear hint abuse and the premise that hints aren't necessary is false.