Materialized Views Use Cases with Key-Value Storage

Relational databases (Postgres, MySQL) are great at "truth". They ensure data is consistent and normalized. But they are terrible at "speed" when you have complex joins. Querying a dashboard might involve joining users, orders, items, and payments. This kills performance.

The solution? Materialized Views with Key-Value Storage.

What is a Materialized View?

In SQL, a "view" is a saved query. A "materialized view" is the result of that query saved to disk. In the modern web stack, we take this a step further. We compute the result and push it to a fast Key-Value store.

The Pattern

1. Write Path: User places an order -> Writes to Postgres (source of truth).
2. Async Job: A worker listens to the database (CDC or event bus).
3. Compute: The worker recalculates the "User Dashboard" JSON blob.
4. Cache Path: Worker writes the JSON blob to Key-Value store (SET user:123:dashboard '{...}').

Why Key-Value is Perfect Here

• Read Speed: When the user loads their dashboard, you do a single GET user:123:dashboard. 1ms later, you have the data. No SQL joins, no CPU load on the primary DB.
• Atomic Updates: You replace the whole view at once. The user never sees a "half-loaded" state.
• Cost: Hosting these views in a KV store is cheaper than scaling a vertical Postgres instance to handle read traffic.

Implementation Example

// Background Worker
async function updateUserView(userId) {
  const [user, orders] = await Promise.all([
    db.users.findById(userId),
    db.orders.find({ userId })
  ]);
  
  const dashboardData = {
    name: user.name,
    totalSpent: orders.reduce((sum, o) => sum + o.total, 0),
    recentOrders: orders.slice(0, 5)
  };
  
  // Persist to BaseKV
  await redis.set(`view:user:${userId}`, JSON.stringify(dashboardData));
}

// API Endpoint
app.get('/dashboard', async (req, res) => {
  // Instant fetch
  const data = await redis.get(`view:user:${req.user.id}`);
  res.json(JSON.parse(data));
});

Conclusion

Don't make your database do the same hard work every time a user refreshes the page. Compute once, cache forever (until it changes). Using a Key-Value store for materialized views is the secret weapon of high-scale applications.

BaseKV is the perfect persistent home for your views. Try it now.