Before you can begin to use MongoDB properly, it's important to understand its architectural underpinnings. Key to this understanding is what is often referred to as NoSQL. As the rubric implies, a NoSQL database does not use SQL language. More importantly, this means that a NoSQL database is free from the legacy, two-dimensional restrictions that handcuff the traditional RDBMS.
There is no formal definition of NoSQL, but there are certain common characteristics. First of all, a NoSQL database does not adhere to the relational model. This is evident in that MongoDB has no fixed schema, no tables, columns, or rows. A second consideration is that NoSQL databases are driven by the needs of big data. Accordingly, NoSQL databases tend to be scalable as well as distributed. This aspect is visible in the MongoDB feature called sharding, where shards of the database...
