The amount of data that companies are currently collecting continues to grow. The more data they process, the better they have the chance to plan and manage their activities. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the type of database on which you want to rely when starting your project. Especially for the most used SQL databases, there is an attractive alternative - NoSQL databases, including MongoDB.
Relational databases store data in tables comprising rows and columns. Tables apply to specific database objects (i.g. users, products, or orders).
A row in a table is a record with a unique, so-called primary key. Thus, in the “Subscribers” table, it will be, for example, a John Doe record. The columns will contain the specified data type. In this example, it can be name and surname, e-mail address, telephone number, company name, or position.
Relationality in SQL databases allows for a flexible flow of data between tables. For example, a John Doe record containing user data can be linked to another table that contains procurement information. Both records are linked using the so-called foreign key. Based on the data from both tables, another table can be generated, e.g. a report.
Relational databases are managed by the RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) software. It allows the programmer to create, read, update and delete data. RDBMS uses the SQL language to interact with the database.
The advantages of relational databases are:
Relational databases can only collect structured data. NoSQL databases don’t have this limitation, which makes them more universal - according to accepted estimates, unstructured data accounts for up to 80% of all collected data.
Nowadays, the amount of data collected has also exploded. Big Data systems must collect both structured and unstructured ones. Therefore, Facebook, which has to operate on a wide variety of data collected from 2 billion of its users, has chosen NoSQL
MongoDB belongs to a type of NoSQL database called a Document Database. It works based on folders called collections. Each of them contains files with data organized according to various criteria.
In the example of an online store, each customer can be assigned various types of data sets - contact details, order details, or credit card details. In SQL databases, this would require creating different tables and establishing relationships between them. MongoDB allows for gathering all information about the client in one place. This makes database management more convenient.
When querying, there is no need to check multiple tables, which increases process efficiency. In addition, MongoDB optimally uses cache and RAM, which further speeds up searches.
In a dynamically developing company, the types of data collected may change. MongoDB allows storing both structured and unstructured data, which gives you more freedom.
A factor that additionally speeds up the operation of an application using MongoDB is the language in which the information is collected. For other systems, it is JSON (JavaScript Object Notation).
JSON allows saving data in a human-readable form. These are text files where information can be easily seen and understood. JSON is easy to use for programmers, which speeds up database management.
The BSON language used by MongoDB is a binary version of JSON. This means that the code is only understood by the computer. As a result, it doesn’t have to read text files, which is slower. However, the programmer can enter data using convenient JSON, which MongoDB converts to binary code.
SQL databases use vertical scalability, MongoDB horizontal scalability. This means that subsequent data sets can be stored on attached servers. This reduces initial costs and is ideal for cloud computing.
The great advantage of MongoDB is that the database can be used in applications written in many languages, such as JavaScript, Java, Go, C, C #, Python, PHP, Swift, Rust or Ruby on Rails. This contributes to its great popularity.
MongoDB was founded in 2007 and has been used in a huge number of projects since then. A great community of programmers has grown up around this proven solution. Thanks to this, the developer can get answers to his questions and learn how to use the database faster.
MongoDB is a suitable alternative to SQL databases. It is created for the era of cloud solutions and Big Data. We use MongoDB in various projects and appreciate its speed and flexibility.
For our clients, the system's benefits include better application performance and the ability to manage various types of data. They can also save on data storage costs by leveraging horizontal scalability and cloud computing solutions.
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