diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/lib.rs b/sqlx-core/src/lib.rs
index 6f2e8913..3fb3d656 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/lib.rs
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@ pub mod encode;
 mod error;
 mod execute;
 mod executor;
-mod isolation_level;
 mod from_row;
+mod isolation_level;
 mod options;
 mod query_result;
+mod raw_value;
 pub mod row;
 mod runtime;
 mod r#type;
@@ -64,14 +65,15 @@ pub use connection::Connection;
 pub use database::Database;
 pub use decode::Decode;
 pub use encode::Encode;
-pub use from_row::FromRow;
 pub use error::{DatabaseError, Error, Result};
 pub use execute::Execute;
 pub use executor::Executor;
+pub use from_row::FromRow;
 pub use isolation_level::IsolationLevel;
 pub use options::ConnectOptions;
 pub use query_result::QueryResult;
-pub use r#type::{Type, TypeDecode, TypeEncode, TypeDecodeOwned};
+pub use r#type::{Type, TypeDecode, TypeDecodeOwned, TypeEncode};
+pub use raw_value::RawValue;
 pub use row::{ColumnIndex, Row};
 #[cfg(feature = "actix")]
 pub use runtime::Actix;
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/row.rs b/sqlx-core/src/row.rs
index a4b6df1b..3a1b7df4 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/row.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/row.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
+use std::any;
+
 use crate::database::HasRawValue;
-use crate::{Database, Decode};
+use crate::{decode, Database, Error, RawValue, Result, TypeDecode, TypeInfo};
 
 /// A single row from a result set generated from the database.
 pub trait Row: 'static + Send + Sync {
@@ -20,82 +22,182 @@ pub trait Row: 'static + Send + Sync {
     fn columns(&self) -> &[<Self::Database as Database>::Column];
 
     /// Returns the column at the index, if available.
-    fn column<I: ColumnIndex<Self>>(&self, index: I) -> &<Self::Database as Database>::Column;
+    fn column<I: ColumnIndex<Self>>(&self, index: I) -> &<Self::Database as Database>::Column {
+        self.try_column(index).unwrap()
+    }
 
     /// Returns the column at the index, if available.
     fn try_column<I: ColumnIndex<Self>>(
         &self,
         index: I,
-    ) -> crate::Result<&<Self::Database as Database>::Column>;
+    ) -> Result<&<Self::Database as Database>::Column>;
 
     /// Returns the column name, given the index of the column.
-    fn column_name_of(&self, index: usize) -> &str;
-
-    /// Returns the column name, given the index of the column.
-    fn try_column_name_of(&self, index: usize) -> crate::Result<&str>;
+    fn column_name(&self, index: usize) -> Option<&str>;
 
     /// Returns the column index, given the name of the column.
-    fn index_of(&self, name: &str) -> usize;
+    fn column_index(&self, name: &str) -> Option<usize>;
 
-    /// Returns the column index, given the name of the column.
-    fn try_index_of(&self, name: &str) -> crate::Result<usize>;
-
-    /// Returns the decoded value at the index.
+    /// Returns the value for a column.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Will panic for any errors documented in [`try_get`].
+    ///
     fn get<'r, T, I>(&'r self, index: I) -> T
     where
         I: ColumnIndex<Self>,
-        T: Decode<'r, Self::Database>;
+        T: TypeDecode<'r, Self::Database>,
+    {
+        self.try_get(index).unwrap()
+    }
 
-    /// Returns the decoded value at the index.
-    fn try_get<'r, T, I>(&'r self, index: I) -> crate::Result<T>
+    /// Returns the _unchecked_ value for a column.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Will panic for any errors documented in [`try_get_unchecked`].
+    ///
+    fn get_unchecked<'r, T, I>(&'r self, index: I) -> T
     where
         I: ColumnIndex<Self>,
-        T: Decode<'r, Self::Database>;
+        T: TypeDecode<'r, Self::Database>,
+    {
+        self.try_get_unchecked(index).unwrap()
+    }
 
-    /// Returns the raw representation of the value at the index.
+    /// Returns the value for a column.
+    ///
+    /// # Errors
+    ///
+    /// -   Will return `Error::ColumnNotFound` or `Error::ColumnIndexOutOfBounds` if the
+    ///     there is no column with the given name or index.
+    ///
+    /// -   Will return `Error::ColumnDecode` if there was an issue decoding
+    ///     the value. Common reasons include:
+    ///
+    ///     -   The SQL value is `NULL` and `T` is not `Option<T>`
+    ///
+    ///     -   The SQL value cannot be represented as a `T`. Truncation or
+    ///         loss of precision are considered errors.
+    ///
+    ///     -   The SQL type is not [`compatible`][Type::compatible] with
+    ///         the Rust type.
+    ///
+    ///
+    fn try_get<'r, T, I>(&'r self, index: I) -> Result<T>
+    where
+        I: ColumnIndex<Self>,
+        T: TypeDecode<'r, Self::Database>,
+    {
+        let value = self.try_get_raw(&index)?;
+
+        let res = if !T::compatible(value.type_info()) {
+            Err(decode::Error::TypeNotCompatible {
+                rust_type_name: any::type_name::<T>(),
+                sql_type_name: value.type_info().name(),
+            })
+        } else {
+            T::decode(value)
+        };
+
+        res.map_err(|err| Error::column_decode(self.column(&index), err))
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the _unchecked_ value for a column.
+    ///
+    /// In this case, _unchecked_ does not mean `unsafe`. Unlike [`try_get`],
+    /// this method will not check that the source SQL value is compatible
+    /// with the target Rust type. This may result in *weird* behavior (reading
+    /// a `bool` from bytes of a `TEXT` column) but it is not `unsafe` and
+    /// cannot cause undefined behavior.
+    ///
+    /// The type-compatible checks in SQLx will likely never be perfect. This
+    /// method exists to work-around them in a controlled scenario.
+    ///
+    /// # Errors
+    ///
+    /// -   Will return `Error::ColumnNotFound` or `Error::ColumnIndexOutOfBounds` if the
+    ///     there is no column with the given name or index.
+    ///
+    /// -   Will return `Error::ColumnDecode` if there was an issue decoding
+    ///     the value. Common reasons include:
+    ///
+    ///     -   The SQL value is `NULL` and `T` is not `Option<T>`
+    ///
+    ///     -   The SQL value cannot be represented as a `T`. Truncation or
+    ///         loss of precision are considered errors.
+    ///
+    fn try_get_unchecked<'r, T, I>(&'r self, index: I) -> Result<T>
+    where
+        I: ColumnIndex<Self>,
+        T: TypeDecode<'r, Self::Database>,
+    {
+        let value = self.try_get_raw(&index)?;
+
+        T::decode(value).map_err(|err| Error::column_decode(self.column(&index), err))
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the raw representation of the value for a column.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Will panic for any errors documented in [`try_get_raw`].
+    ///
     #[allow(clippy::needless_lifetimes)]
     fn get_raw<'r, I: ColumnIndex<Self>>(
         &'r self,
         index: I,
-    ) -> <Self::Database as HasRawValue<'r>>::RawValue;
+    ) -> <Self::Database as HasRawValue<'r>>::RawValue {
+        self.try_get_raw(index).unwrap()
+    }
 
-    /// Returns the raw representation of the value at the index.
+    /// Returns the raw representation of the value for a column.
+    ///
+    /// # Errors
+    ///
+    /// -   Will return `Error::ColumnNotFound` or `Error::ColumnIndexOutOfBounds` if the
+    ///     there is no column with the given name or index.
+    ///
     #[allow(clippy::needless_lifetimes)]
     fn try_get_raw<'r, I: ColumnIndex<Self>>(
         &'r self,
         index: I,
-    ) -> crate::Result<<Self::Database as HasRawValue<'r>>::RawValue>;
+    ) -> Result<<Self::Database as HasRawValue<'r>>::RawValue>;
 }
 
 /// A helper trait used for indexing into a [`Row`].
 pub trait ColumnIndex<R: Row + ?Sized> {
     /// Returns the index of the column at this index, if present.
     #[allow(clippy::needless_lifetimes)]
-    fn get<'r>(&self, row: &'r R) -> crate::Result<usize>;
+    fn get<'r>(&self, row: &'r R) -> Result<usize>;
 }
 
 // access by index
-impl<R: Row> ColumnIndex<R> for usize {
+impl<R: ?Sized + Row> ColumnIndex<R> for usize {
     #[allow(clippy::needless_lifetimes)]
-    fn get<'r>(&self, _row: &'r R) -> crate::Result<usize> {
-        // note: the "index out of bounds" error will be surfaced
-        //  by [try_get]
+    fn get<'r>(&self, row: &'r R) -> Result<usize> {
+        if *self >= row.len() {
+            return Err(Error::ColumnIndexOutOfBounds { len: row.len(), index: *self });
+        }
+
         Ok(*self)
     }
 }
 
 // access by name
-impl<R: Row> ColumnIndex<R> for &'_ str {
+impl<R: ?Sized + Row> ColumnIndex<R> for &'_ str {
     #[allow(clippy::needless_lifetimes)]
-    fn get<'r>(&self, row: &'r R) -> crate::Result<usize> {
-        row.try_index_of(self)
+    fn get<'r>(&self, row: &'r R) -> Result<usize> {
+        row.column_index(self)
+            .ok_or_else(|| Error::ColumnNotFound { name: self.to_string().into_boxed_str() })
     }
 }
 
 // access by reference
-impl<R: Row, I: ColumnIndex<R>> ColumnIndex<R> for &'_ I {
+impl<R: ?Sized + Row, I: ColumnIndex<R>> ColumnIndex<R> for &'_ I {
     #[allow(clippy::needless_lifetimes)]
-    fn get<'r>(&self, row: &'r R) -> crate::Result<usize> {
+    fn get<'r>(&self, row: &'r R) -> Result<usize> {
         (*self).get(row)
     }
 }