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Posts Tagged ‘NOSQL’

Converting a database from CouchDB to Mongodb

Posted in Database Management Systems, Still-coding, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

When I began the project I am currently working on (more details will be provided next month – probably), it was initially intended as a small test to determine the capabilities of AI.  Over the last six months it has turned into something that we might take further. 

But I hit a problem. As a little hobby project I chose the database I really really like – CouchBD.  CouchDB is elegant, simple yet very functional and efficient. Close to the perfect database management system (DBMS).  But to take it further I need to involve other developers and it turs out that CouchDB skills are few and far between. Truly it is the Betamax of DBMSs.

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I don’t need a schema for NOSQL, right?

Posted in Database Management Systems, Still-coding, Technology, tagged , , on July 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

A schema means different things for an SQL and a NOSQL database management system. If you are using SQL, you have to tell the system about the format of the data before you can use – that is the schema. When it comes to NOSQL databases everything is different. You don’t need a schema, you simply present data and the system stores it in whatever format you send it.

Each document in a collection1 can be a different layout and different types of data. The flexibility of NOSQL databases suggests that data design is less important. For example I read: “… since NoSQL doesn’t necessitate the need for a schema, you avoid the expense and time of that initial design stage.”

I don’t think so

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I don’t need a schema for NOSQL, right?

Posted in Database Management Systems, Still-coding, Technology, tagged , , , , , , , on May 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

A schema means different things for an SQL and a NOSQL database management system. If you are using SQL, you have to tell the system about the format of the data before you can use – that is the schema. When it comes to NOSQL databases everything is different. You don’t need a schema, you simply present data and the system stores it in whatever format you send it.

Each document in a collection1 can be a different layout and different types of data. The flexibility of NOSQL databases suggests that data design is less important. For example I read: “… since NoSQL doesn’t necessitate the need for a schema, you avoid the expense and time of that initial design stage.”

I don’t think so

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NOSQL – a cautionary tale

Posted in Still-coding, Technology, tagged on February 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The sales manager came down to the IT department and looked around. He spotted a young developer who looked a bit bored.  His name plate said ‘Luke’. “I have a small job for you if you are interested”. Luke  nodded. “We get sales orders from out customers. The warehouse handles them but we can’t get access to the data. Can you write a little program to store then on a computer for me.”  Luke looked at a file of sample orders. “Sure no problem.”

He turned to the jaded old database administrator (Joda) in the corner “This is a great application for a NOSQL Document database like MongoDB or CouchDB.”  Joda looked up – “That is a decision, regret you will”.  Luke muttered something about ‘luddite’ and went back to his desk and coded up one NOSQL document per sales order, with customer details and an embedded array of order lines. The logical way to solve the problem.

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I tried CouchDB and I like it

Posted in Still-coding, Technology, tagged , , on November 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

My COVID lockdown project is a system to keep a database updated called SUDSJS. I am using it to check out different database management systems (DBMS).  The latest is CouchDB – and I like it

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Firestore didn’t go well for me.

Posted in Still-coding, Technology, tagged , , on October 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I decided to use my lockdown project SUDSJS.com to test out a few different NOSQL database management systems (DBMS).  

SUDSJS is written in JavaScript using the node.js server-side system and I designed it so that I could plug in different drivers for different databases. I wrote database drivers for MySQL, SQLite 3 and PostgreSQL. The first NOSQL system I tried was MongoDB, and the SUDSJS.com test site is currently running using this (correction – it is now running on CouchDB). The second NOSQL system I tried was Firestore from Google. 

It didn’t go well.

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Database design – SQL vs NOSQL examples

Posted in Still-coding, Technology, tagged , , , , on September 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

For the last 50 years there has been one and only one way of designing a database.  SQL Database management systems (DBMS) have been the uncontested standard. (A better name is ‘relational’ because SQL is just the name of the language used to access them, but we will stick with it.)
But things have changed in the last 10-15 years. Databases that disobey relational rules are coming into vogue.  The term NOSQL is used for these non-relational databases (the above chart is work in progress, but I have been looking at these systems.) 
What is the difference between classic databases and this new breed? 

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Handling data consistency in a Document Database

Posted in Still-coding, Technology, tagged , on May 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

You know what an invoice looks like.  We have all seen thousands of them – probably too many. But invoices illustrate an interesting problem – and I am not talking about your VAT  return. I am talking about the new kids on the database block – document databases.  An example is MongoDB. These can store all the data for one invoice in a single structured record (called a ‘document’).   

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Lost in MongoDB: Learning to Aggregate

Posted in Still-coding, Technology, tagged , , on April 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I am getting to the end of stage one in writing a database driver for MongoDB to use in my Lockdown Project sudsjs.com. All has gone well until I get to totalling up a field in the database. I had to enter the wonderful world of aggregation, which is powerful function-rich and confusing. 

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Will NOSQ replace SQL?

Posted in Still-coding, Technology, tagged , , on March 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »


NOSQL databases like MongoDB are making a big splash in the computer industry. But are they set to replace the tried and tested technology of the past fifty years?

Here is my take on it, with a bit of history thrown in.

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