MongoDB is an open-source, leading NoSql database which is simple, highly scalable, dynamic and document-based. Unlike traditional relational database which stores data into rows and columns, MongoDB stores data objects as individual documents in a collection which enables high flexibility, high performance and high availability of the data store. Also, it is one of the fastest-growing databases which helps one with easy Onboarding with tons of knowledge-based articles and help readily available online. And finally, it is really easy for programmers to manage database which I see as the most important reason to why use MongoDB.
Let us explore some of the major reasons to use MongoDB.
BSON format
BSON is binary encoding of documents like JSON which MongoDB uses when storing documents in collections. This enables MongoDB to add data types like date and binary which JSON doesn’t support. The advantage of using BSON is that it enables internal indexing and helps in mapping document properties which indeed makes the DB efficient in speed and size, also, improves the read/write throughput of MongoDB.
Flexibility
There is no data schema defined internally in MongoDB which really helps the developer manage the data with ease and can flexibly change the data model whenever required.
High availability of the Database and uptime
This can be achieved in MongoDB due to its model of replication sets. Replication essentially creates additional copies of the database set and allows for automatic failover to another set if the primary database fails for some reason. This model is a traditional master/slave setup where data is synced to back up members and if the primary fails one of them can take its place.
High scalability
Major issue faced across today’s mobile and web applications are scaling. MongoDB manages this issue with the help of Sharding. Usually, Sharding sits on top of replication and allows horizontal scaling. Sharding is a method by which data is distributed across multiple machines using a shard key which helps in scaling the data. In simple words, Shards are just replica sets with a “router” in front of them. Whenever an application queries or connects to the router, it decides which replica set (shard) the query should go to. Nevertheless, it is a complicated process which is managed automatically.
Dynamic lookup/Query
MongoDB supports querying combined data from multiple collections using the model of the Aggregation framework for dynamic analytics and makes life easier. It supports range query, regular expressions and much more types of searches. Another major feature is Indexing, to improve the performance of search indexes can be created.
Wide range of driver support
MongoDB has official drivers for NodeJS, C, C++, Java, Ruby, Python, Perl, .Net, Php, Scala, etc. It also provides connectors for Many BI platforms. Also, MongoDB can be easily be used in cloud distribution such as AWS, Azure, etc.
To Summarise
MongoDB is known for its high performance, high availability, high scaling, Dynamic, flexible characteristics. MongoDB can be a good choice if your application requires real-time analytics, high scalability, quick response, geospatial data.
