Extract MIN and MAX values related to datetime values on Postgres 9+

I am trying to query a table that has a collection of student grades recorded over time. I would like to produce a result set that grabs the student id, the first grade, first grade date, last grade, last grade date.

I think I need to use the MIN and MAX functions and some subqueries to achieve this, but I'm just not getting the results I need.

Is there an effective way to achieve the results below on PostgreSQL?

Database Example:

user_id | grade | grade_date
1       | A     | 01/05/2016
1       | B     | 01/15/2016
1       | C     | 01/31/2016
2       | A     | 01/05/2016
2       | B     | 01/15/2016
2       | C     | 01/31/2016
3       | A     | 01/05/2016
3       | B     | 01/15/2016
3       | C     | 01/31/2016
4       | A     | 01/05/2016
4       | B     | 01/15/2016
4       | C     | 01/31/2016

Results I'm aiming for:

user_id | first_grade | first_date | last_grade | last_date
1       | A           | 01/05/2016 | C          | 01/31/2016
2       | A           | 01/05/2016 | C          | 01/31/2016 
3       | A           | 01/05/2016 | C          | 01/31/2016 
4       | A           | 01/05/2016 | C          | 01/31/2016

There are various ways to do it. An index on columns used in order/filter/join (user_id and grade_date + grade) will play an important role on a large table.
Performances must be tested with real data and table/index design.

Using a window function (ROW_NUMBER()):

SELECT f.user_id, f.grade, f.grade_date, l.grade, l.grade_date 
FROM (
    SELECT user_id, grade, grade_date
        , ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY user_id ORDER BY grade_date) as n
    FROM data
) f
INNER JOIN (
    SELECT user_id, grade, grade_date
        , ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY user_id ORDER BY grade_date DESC) as n
    FROM data
) l
ON f.user_id = l.user_id 
    AND f.n = 1 AND l.n = 1;

ROW_NUMBER gives each row a number from 1 to N by grade_date up and down and only the first one of each is kept (n=1).

Using subqueries:

SELECT  user_id
    , ( SELECT grade FROM data
        WHERE  user_id = d.user_id
        ORDER BY grade_date LIMIT 1
    )
    , ( SELECT grade_date FROM data
        WHERE  user_id = d.user_id
        ORDER BY grade_date LIMIT 1
    )
    , ( SELECT grade FROM data
        WHERE  user_id = d.user_id
        ORDER BY grade_date DESC LIMIT 1
    )
    , ( SELECT grade_date FROM data
        WHERE  user_id = d.user_id
        ORDER BY grade_date DESC LIMIT 1
    )
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT user_id FROM data) d
;

Each subquery only keep the first row and returns it.

Using MIN and MAX:

SELECT d.user_id, mn.grade, mn.grade_date, mx.grade, mx.grade_date
FROM (
    SELECT user_id, MIN(grade_date) as min_grade_date, MAX(grade_date) as max_grade_date
    FROM data
    GROUP BY user_id
) d
INNER JOIN data mn 
    ON mn.grade_date = d.min_grade_date AND mn.user_id = d.user_id 
INNER JOIN data mx 
    ON mx.grade_date = d.max_grade_date AND mx.user_id = d.user_id 
;

It may generate duplicate lines if a user has more than 1 grade on a first or last date.

See SQL Fiddle.

StackExchange Database Administrators Q#132465, answer score: 10