Database Schema and Migrations
Evolve schema safely while protecting production data and deployment reliability.
Recommended approach
- Use migration-based schema evolution.
- Keep migrations backward compatible across rolling deploy windows.
- Separate write-path changes from cleanup migrations.
Alternatives and when to choose them
- Schema sync in development only for prototypes.
- Manual DBA-led migrations in highly governed enterprise environments.
Implementation checklist
- Review every migration for lock/runtime risk.
- Run migrations in CI and staging before production.
- Add rollback strategy (or forward-fix plan) for every high-risk migration.
Common pitfalls
- Long-running lock-heavy migrations during peak traffic.
- Deploying code that expects columns before migration is applied.