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What is the difference between B-Tree, GIN, and GiST indexes?

Mid PostgreSQL
Quick Answer B-Tree: default, balanced tree, handles equality and range queries, sorted order - use for most queries. GIN (Generalized Inverted Index): multi-value items - use for JSONB, arrays, full-text search (indexes all keys/elements). GiST (Generalized Search Tree): geometric data, range types, full-text search - use for PostGIS, EXCLUDE constraints. Each handles different query patterns.

Answer

B-Tree handles equality and range queries. GIN is optimized for arrays, JSONB, and full-text search. GiST supports ranges, geometric types, and custom index logic.
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