Postgres in Rust: three dead ends before we passed 100% of the regression suite (malisper.me)

In a groundbreaking effort, developers successfully rewrote PostgreSQL in Rust using a combination of AI tools and innovative programming techniques, culminating in the creation of pgrust, which consists of 1.8 million lines of idiomatic Rust code. After four attempts and an investment of $100,000, the team leveraged AI agent Codex to transcribe and improve the codebase, significantly enhancing performance. Notably, their newest iteration of pgrust demonstrates superior speed, outperforming PostgreSQL for transactional workloads and matching Clickhouse's analytics capabilities. This project holds significant implications for the AI and machine learning community as it showcases the potential for AI to assist in modernizing legacy systems. By transitioning PostgreSQL's code from C to Rust, the team aims to streamline feature implementation, making it safer and more efficient to incorporate new functionalities. Their experiences, including the challenges of maintaining compatibility and the nuances of integrating complex database architectures, provide invaluable insights for similar endeavors in software evolution, making this a pivotal case study for developers working on rewriting or upgrading complex systems.