NoSQL

What is NoSQL?

NoSQL databases are databases that do not use SQL as their query language. They are not relational databases, and have been designed to handle large volumes of data and complex data structures.

Common use cases include modern web applications and big data environments, where traditional relational databases may not scale well enough or struggle to manage highly variable data.

Key Characteristics

• Do not use predefined schemas or relations
• Can represent data in more complex, flexible structures
• Flexible structure can make data management more challenging when designing applications

Types of NoSQL Databases

NoSQL databases fall into four main categories:

Type	Description	Example
Key-Value Stores	Store data as a collection of key-value pairs	Redis
Document Stores	Store data as complete, hierarchical documents	MongoDB
Column-Family Stores	Store data in columns rather than rows	Apache Cassandra
Graph Databases	Store data as a network of interconnected nodes	Neo4j