PGSimCity - How PostgreSQL Works
jonbaer
356 points
40 comments
July 27, 2026
Related Discussions
Found 5 related stories in 391.9ms across 14,941 title embeddings via pgvector HNSW
- Postgres by Example thenewedrock · 46 pts · June 10, 2026 · 58% similar
- PostgreSQL is enough (2024) Imustaskforhelp · 103 pts · June 24, 2026 · 56% similar
- Commodore 64 Basic for PostgreSQL hans_castorp · 66 pts · July 03, 2026 · 55% similar
- Postgres with Builtin File Systems ngaut · 54 pts · March 14, 2026 · 54% similar
- Reading the Internals of PostgreSQL: Database Cluster, Databases, and Tables buraksen · 16 pts · June 29, 2026 · 52% similar
Discussion Highlights (19 comments)
loveparade
I don't know what I am looking at but it is fabulous.
layoric
I love what is trying to be done here. Some feedback to improve would be to cut out a lot of the noise with the "Take tour". There are too many boxes and things changing on the screen to get a sense of what is happening. Also make it interactive rather than automatically switch onto the next subject. Being a passive observer to so much information trying to be conveyed is very confusing. I really do like these kinds of approaches to showing the inner workings of different kinds of tech, so think this is on the good path to being a very useful tool, but needs some focus rather than more data/graphs/info boxes.
skreem
This is really cool, I like having visualization to hold on my head! Also (assuming this is LLM-generated, apologies if it’s not) seems like the future of learning/self-teaching… gonna try and generate similar things for stuff I’m learning
Curtis_Guan
Understanding how scheduling works inside a database used to require numerous architecture diagrams to explain. I was amazed when I saw PGSimCity — it presents such a complex technical implementation process in such an engaging way. Since it's already open‑source, I think the same idea can be reused in other domains, such as cloud computing, Kubernetes, and so on.
narmiouh
I imagined as soon I saw the initial visual that I would somehow be able to enter a query and it would walk me through the flow through the entire system starting from input parsing to all the way to delivering output and perhaps along the way understand some of the autonomous processes that happen in parallel that aren't query specific but run constantly. What others are saying - fantastic attempt, but don't know where to start or where to end.
npunt
This is very cool, just some UX tips to make it more legible: 1. remove ~50% of the UI since it covers too much of a laptop screen 2. improve the camera controls so its easier to pan and zoom.
BowBun
Amazing, great work. Keep polishing this up!
bibimsz
i understood all that.
deadbabe
Someone should make a movie called “Postgres” which is about people living within a Postgres city, in the style of Se7en. “Every city has secrets. Ours have indexes.”
abstrct
This is amazing!
arjie
I can't believe "Rendering The First Frame..." is not "Reticulating Splines..." :) Cool UI.
gregsadetsky
Great work! When zooming out a bit, I'm somewhat sure that the 'blinking'/glitching is due to z-fighting. Just something you may want to look into (ie move 3d surfaces so that they're not at the exact same z)
dostick
It surely is impressive,but it’s just that - components of db service as buildings/machine. What it needs is narrative, purpose, with main actors clearly defined - client and data. demonstrating what is involved in the chain when data’s written and requested.
num42
Really great work! I've always wanted to build a CPU simulator(Full PC simulator) in this style. I still haven't fully figured out my own approach, but this will definitely be an inspiration for me. Thanks for making and sharing it.
Jonathanfishner
thats cool. n1. spent 15min looking on it rn
bazzingadev
Wow, cool projects are so back again
luciana1u
3.86B tokens to build a visual simulator of a database that runs on a fraction of that compute. we're using the expensive brain to draw pictures of the cheap brain.
manytimesaway
Besides the sadly obvious vibe-coding, just note that SimCity is still an active trademark from EA, so might be good to rename it.
LowLevelKernel
Wow. Can’t wait to explore the architecture