Welcome to a tutorial where we will compare MongoDB and SQL Databases.
Well, already that SQL databases have ruled the world of data technologies and have been the primary source of data storage for over four decades. Generally, SQL databases are mainly for accessing relational databases. Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server ruled the segment, however, as the Web development market paced up, there came a shift towards the usage of open source databases such as MySQL, Postgres, and many more. However, RDBMS was still the first choice.
Of recent, data started growing exponentially and scalability became a major issue, at that time NoSQL rolled in to save the day. An interesting part of NoSQL databases is that they existed since 1960, but in recent times they have gained more popularity, especially for the scaling feature it provides.
The major difference between MongoDB and SQL Databases is the way they handle data, SQL databases stored data in form of a traditional 2-dimensional row-column structure whereas MongoDB's rich data document model is followed, which allows storage of any type of data.
The table shows the major differences between MongoDB and other SQL databases.
| SQL Database | NoSQL Database (MongoDB) |
| It is a relational database | It is a non-relational database |
| It supports SQL query language | It supports JSON query language |
| It is Table based | It is a Collection based and key-value pair |
| It is Row based | It is Document based |
| It is Column based | It is Field based |
| It supports foreign key | Doesn't support foreign key |
| It supports triggers | It Doesn't Support triggers |
| It contains a predefined schema | It contains a dynamic schema |
| It is not an option for hierarchical data storage | It is the Best fit for hierarchical data storage |
| It is Vertically scalable - increasing RAM | It is Horizontally scalable - add more servers |
| It Emphasizes ACID properties (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability) | This Emphasizes on CAP theorem (Consistency, Availability, and Partition tolerance) |
In addition, MongoDB Documents align with the structure of objects in modern programming languages, because they are a form of JSON. Thus making it easy for developers to map the data used in the application to its associated document in the database. But in SQL Database, creating a table with columns mapped to the attributes of an object in a programming language, therefore, appears to be quite tedious.