SQL vs. MongoDB: What's the Difference?

SQL and MongoDB may seem very similar and they do serve similar purposes. But they’re actually very different technologies under the hood. If you have questions on your mind like:

• What’s the difference between MongoDB and SQL databases? 
• When do I use SQL databases or MongoDB? 
• Will MongoDB support or MySQL support be better?

…you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will compare SQL vs. MongoDB, a NoSQL database. We’ll take a look at which provides the most flexible data management, how SQL queries run, and how a dynamic schema can help you maintain and interact with your databases.

Introduction to terminologies

Before we get into a comparison, let’s discuss some of the terminologies used in this article. 

• Database: A database is a structured set of information. The computer program can access, manage & update this organized data.
• Database Management System (DBMS): It’s a program, which can interact with databases. The DBMS stores, updates & extracts data to/from databases. In other words, a DBMS is a program or system software for creating and managing databases.
• Relational Database Management System (RDBMS): A relational database follows a relational database model. Mr. E. F. Codd invented the relational database model. The RDBMS stores data in the form of related tables. Examples of RDBMS are MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, etc.
• Structured Query Language (SQL): A language to communicate with the database management system. SQL is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard. If you want to learn more about SQL, read the “What is SQL” article on Learning Platform.
• Database Schema: This refers to the way that data is organized within the database; the database’s schema design.
• MySQL: MySQL is a popular, free-to-use, and open-source relational database management system. It’s developed & managed by Oracle Corporation.
• NoSQL: NoSQL databases are also known as non-relational databases. These are non-tabular databases that store data differently compared to RDBMS.
• MongoDB: MongoDB is a free-to-use, open-source, most popular NoSQL database.

Now, you are familiar with the terminologies. We will compare MongoDB (NoSQL database) with MySQL, a well-known SQL database. You could also take a SQL/MySQL course to find out more.

Recommended Learning Platform course

SQL Tutorial: Learn SQL with MySQL Database

Pradnyankur Nikam