Ask HN: How to Wield NoSQL Databases

2 points by sharps_xp 4y ago ↗ HN

Don’t worry HN, I still love postgres, but I’ve recently learned that while I’ve been nice and cozy in my relational world, I have little awareness of noSQL databases

things i’ve stumbled upon: - using redis ordered sets to rank things - dynamodb single table design - in a system design interview i was asked how to prevent data corruption from two requests targeting the same key

it seems as though there’s a whole world where all the noSQL companies are trying to solve all the problems that relational db had solved.

1 comment

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byoung2 4y ago ↗

I have never found a good explanation of when a noSQL database is the right choice. In most cases a relational database makes more sense, and when you do really need to save a JSON-like data structure, you have to answer this question: is the structure predictable? Then destructure it and store it in relational tables, if it can be any shape then it can be put in a JSON column in postgres or MySQL. Hopefully you are just reading it and not querying inside it.