---
title: NoSQL Databases
description: NoSQL databases are non-relational data management systems designed for unstructured data and high scalability. Learners will understand document, key-value, wide-column, and graph models, and how to select and query them for modern web applications.
category: programming-tech
subcategory: databases
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/nosql-databases
---

# NoSQL Databases

NoSQL databases are non-relational data management systems designed for unstructured data and high scalability. Learners will understand document, key-value, wide-column, and graph models, and how to select and query them for modern web applications.

## Available Resources

2 Books • 3 Courses • 3 Websites

## Websites

### 1. Apache Cassandra Documentation

The official Apache Cassandra reference, covering cluster architecture, the CQL query language, data modeling for wide-column storage, replication and consistency tuning, and day-to-day operations. Readers finish able to design a keyspace and run a working cluster.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://cassandra.apache.org/doc/latest/

**Tags:** cassandra, wide-column-store, cql, distributed-databases, documentation

### 2. MongoDB Documentation

MongoDB's official reference and tutorials, covering CRUD operations, the aggregation pipeline, indexing strategy, schema design for documents, replication, and sharding. Readers come away able to model data and tune queries against a production deployment.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.mongodb.com/docs/

**Tags:** mongodb, document-database, aggregation-pipeline, indexing, documentation

### 3. MongoDB University

MongoDB's official learning platform of free, self-paced courses with hands-on labs. Content covers document model basics, CRUD queries, data modeling, indexing, aggregation pipelines, performance and administration, preparing learners to build and run MongoDB applications and sit certification exams.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://mongodb.com/university

**Tags:** mongodb, nosql, data-modeling, aggregation-pipeline, database-administration

## Courses

### 1. MongoDB for Developers

Learn MongoDB fundamentals with this free course from the MongoDB Team. Master NoSQL database concepts and start building modern applications.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://university.mongodb.com/courses/M001/about

**Tags:** mongodb, nosql, document-database, crud, mongodb-university

### 2. Introduction to NoSQL Databases

Get started with NoSQL Databases with this beginner-friendly introductory course! This course will provide technical, hands-on knowledge of NoSQL databases and Database-as-a-Service (DaaS) offerings. With the advent of Big Data and agile development methodologies, NoSQL databases have gained a lot of relevance in the database landscape. Their main advantage is the ability to handle scalability and flexibility issues modern applications raise.    

You will start this course by learning the history and the basics of NoSQL databases  (document, key-value, column, and graph) and discover their key characteristics and benefits. You will learn about the four categories of NoSQL databases and how they differ. You’ll also explore the differences between the ACID and BASE consistency models, the pros and cons of distributed systems, and when to use RDBMS and NoSQL.  You will also learn about vector databases, an emerging class of databases popular in AI. 

Next, you will explore the architecture and features of several implementations of NoSQL databases, namely MongoDB, Cassandra, and IBM Cloudant. You will learn about the common tasks that they each perform and their key and defining characteristics.  

You will then get hands-on experience using those NoSQL databases to perform standard database management tasks, such as creating and replicating databases, loading and querying data, modifying database permissions, indexing and aggregating data, and sharding (or partitioning) data.  

At the end of this course, you will complete a final project where you will apply all your knowledge of the course content to a specific scenario and work with several NoSQL databases. This course suits anyone wanting to expand their Data Management and Information Technology skill set.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Duration:** 5 weeks of study, 2-4 hours/week | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/introduction-to-nosql-databases

**Tags:** courses, technology-computer-science, database

### 3. Advanced NoSQL Databases

Build a foundation of the four NoSQL (non-relational) databases: Document-oriented, Key-Value Pair, Column-oriented, and Graph.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.edx.org/learn/nosql/university-of-maryland-baltimore-county-nosql-databases

**Tags:** courses, technology-computer-science, database

## Podcasts

### 1. MongoDB Podcast

**Author:** MongoDB

The MongoDB Podcast features guest interviews including developers, startups, and founders with MongoDB Principal Developer Advocate Michael Lynn. Learn about new and emerging technology, how to use the various MongoDB products and best practices, how organizations are using MongoDB, and what lead them to choose MongoDB over other databases.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-us | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://podcasts.mongodb.com/public/115/The-MongoDB-Podcast-b02cf624

**Tags:** mongodb, nosql, developer-interviews, database-operations

### 2. GraphStuff.FM: The Neo4j Graph Database Developer Podcast

**Author:** Jason Koo, Jennifer Reif, Andreas Kollegger, Alison Cossette

Developer podcast produced by Neo4j staff covering graph databases from introductory to advanced: graph data modelling, Cypher queries, tooling, open-source projects and real applications. Listeners learn when a graph model fits a problem and how graph-backed systems are built.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://graphstuff.fm

**Tags:** graph-databases, neo4j, cypher, data-modeling

## Books

### 1. MongoDB in Action

**Author:** Kyle Banker, Peter Bakkum, Shaun Verch, Douglas Garrett, Tim Hawkins

Covers MongoDB 3.0 through worked examples: document modeling, CRUD and queries, the aggregation framework, index selection, replica sets, and sharding. Readers finish able to design schemas and reason about the database's internals when tuning performance.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617291609?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, technology-computer-science, database--backend

### 2. Seven Databases in Seven Weeks

**Author:** Luc Perkins, Eric Redmond, Jim R. Wilson

Works through seven databases in turn: PostgreSQL, HBase, MongoDB, CouchDB, Neo4J, DynamoDB, and Redis, with hands-on exercises for each. Readers finish able to compare data models and pick a store that fits a given problem.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680502530?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, technology-computer-science, database--backend

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