MongoDB is an increasingly popular open source NoSQL database. And it has many advantages over traditional SQL databases.

It offers high scalability, reliability, and performance even with a huge amount of data.

This article covers the basics that you need to know to get started with MongoDB and how to use it properly.

Prerequisites

  • A suitable IDE such as VS Code
  • A terminal

What You'll Learn

  • What is MongoDB?
  • What is NoSQL?
  • How to install MongoDB
  • Hoe to setup MongoDB
  • How to run MongoDB

What is a NoSQL Database?

A NoSQL database is a non-relational database that does not use the traditional table-based schema of a relational database.

NoSQL databases are often used for big data and real-time web applications. MongoDB is one of the most popular NoSQL databases. It's fast, scalable, and uses JSON documents to store data.

Why Should I Use No-SQL?

No-SQL databases are powerful tools that can help you work with large amounts of data. They're especially good at handling unstructured data, so they can be a good choice if you're dealing with a lot of data that doesn't fit into a traditional relational database.

No-SQL databases can also be more scalable than relational databases, which is important if you're expecting your data to grow over time.

How to Get Started with MongoDB – Install Guide

Install MongoDB using this link or use the instructions below if you are using Ubuntu:

  • Import the public key
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv 2930ADAE8CAF5059EE73BB4B58712A2291FA4AD5
  • Create a list file for Ubuntu 
echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu xenial/mongodb-org/3.6 multiverse" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-3.6.list
  • Run the following command to update:
sudo apt-get update
  • Install the latest package
sudo apt-get install -y mongodb-org
  • Then run:
sudo service mongod start

How to Create and Populate the MongoDB Database

Once you have MongoDB installed, create a data directory where MongoDB will store its data files. By default, this is /data/db, but you can specify a different location if you prefer. Finally, start the MongoDB server by running mongod from the command line.

Make a directory for dbPath with the following command: 

sudo mkdir -p /data/db 
sudo chown -R `id -un` /data/db

Then run sudo mongod --port 27017or mongod in a different terminal:

image-214

Your output format (also known as structured logging) for server logs in MongoDB 4.4+ should look like the above. Although the JSON format may initially seem intimidating, it is made to be used with common JSON tools and frameworks.

Enter the MongoDB shell using this command: 

mongo

You will get the output shown below after running the following command:

Screenshot-from-2022-07-24-18-37-20

How to Create a New MongoDB Database

The first step in using MongoDB is creating a new database with the command use mydatabase. You can then create collections inside this database. Finally, you can populate your new collection.

 use record
 db.users.insert({username: "myname", password: "mypassword"})

The  use record command switches the database to record database. The db.users.insert(...) command adds an input to the users table within the  record database.

Below is the output of the commands above:

WriteResult({ "nInserted" : 1 })

Run the following command to view the record you created in the previous step:

 db.users.find()

The db.users.find() command searches the users table for all entries.
Your output yields the following result:

{ "_id" : ObjectId("62dd6ab4a7d1ab0948574778"), "username" : "myname", "password" : "mypassword" }

How to Add New Records to Your Database

To add new records, do the following:

 use record
 db.commerce.save({scriptname: "dygraph.min.js", version: "2.1.0"})
 db.commerce.save({scriptname: "sortable.min.js", version: "0.8.0"})

We've added two records to the commerce table, each with data specified by the scriptname and version attributes.

You should get something like this:

WriteResult({ "nInserted" : 1 })

To view all the tables stored in your MongoDB database, run the following commands:

 use record
 show collections

You should see a similar output to the below:

commerce
users

Conclusion

MongoDB is a powerful database system you can use for a variety of applications. It is easy to set up and use, and its scalability makes it a good choice for large-scale projects.

If you are new to database systems, MongoDB is a good place to start.