Developers and companies are increasingly turning toward a database system offering better features and flexibility than many others on the market: MongoDB.
In this sponsored post in partnership with MongoDB, you’ll learn what the tool is, the advantages of using it, and where to learn MongoDB from beginner to advanced. If you’re a developer or aspiring to be one, adding this free, software to your arsenal is a great idea!
What Is MongoDB?
In short, MongoDB is a flexible, scalable document database offering powerful storage and analytics capabilities. It’s also free.
MongoDB is different from traditional relational databases in that it’s a document-oriented, NoSQL database. Relational systems—such as Oracle and MySQL—use tables, rows, and columns to store data. By contrast, MongoDB stores data in JSON-like documents, which enables users to work with different types of data. The cool thing about this is that you’re not forced to work with the same fields or data structures forever.
As these statistics show, users are quickly embracing MongoDB:
- The software has over 40 million downloads
- There are over 1 million MongoDB University students
- GitHub has over 35,000+ MongoDB repositories
Let’s find out more about why MongoDB is growing so quickly, before we move on to how to start MongoDB yourself.
6 Advantages of MongoDB
There are a number of compelling reasons to learn MongoDB and use it for your own development needs.
1. Free to use
This speaks for itself. Instead of paying for database software that’s less flexible and lacks a strong community, you can learn MongoDB and save the money. There’s even a free version in the cloud with the free trial version of MongoDB Atlas. The software is also transparent and easy to modify, which gives developers the power to make it their own based on their needs.
2. Makes complex tasks easy for developers
MongoDB’s document-oriented model can be used with many programming languages to meet the complex development requirements of modern apps. While it can handle complex tasks, it’s not complicated to learn, and most developers get the hang of it quickly.
3. Flexible and future-proof
Using a rigid database system forces you to keep your data in a certain form and often locks you into whichever vendor you start with. The flexibility of MongoDB means this isn’t an issue, and you can use new data structures when you want to. Learn more about the MongoDB architecture here.
4. Already used at large companies
MongoDB is already being used at large companies across industries. Among them are Gap, eBay, Adobe, Google, Verizon, Intuit, and Business Insider. Developers who learn MongoDB now can give themselves extra marketability as more companies adopt the software.
5. Usable in the cloud
MongoDB has a SaaS version called Atlas, which makes it quick and easy to develop and deploy in the cloud. Learn how to create an account, launch a cluster, and import data to Atlas in their Getting Started guide.
6. No need for web hosting and application services
Providing yet more evidence for the flexibility of MongoDB, they have a serverless platform called Stitch that removes the need for web hosting and application services. With a Stitch SDK, you can run JavaScript code, access data stored in Atlas, authenticate end-users, and more.
So, it’s no mystery why MongoDB is exploding in popularity. The question now becomes, how do you hop on board this trend?
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Free MongoDB University courses
With MongoDB University, you can take free courses or purchase private training, study for your exam with a study guide, and take the MongoDB Developer Exam or the MongoDB DBA Exam to gain a MongoDB certification.
MongoDB University has courses ranging from introductory to advanced. For those wanting to learn how to start with MongoDB, we’re highlighting four of the beginner MongoDB courses here. When you’re ready for something more advanced, simply head to the MongoDB University course catalog to continue your learning!
All four of these MongoDB courses are graded based on your performance with the assignments, projects, and exams. If you earn a course grade of 65% or higher, you will receive a course completion certificate.
1. M001: MongoDB Basics
- Level: Intro
- Prerequisites: None—it’s a great starting point
- Format: Pre-recorded video lectures and hands-on labs
- Time commitment: 3 weeks
- What you’ll learn: The fundamentals of MongoDB—connecting to a MongoDB Cluster, MongoDB’s document storage model and principles of flexible schema design, the basic architecture of MongoDB clusters, CRUD operations, using MongoDB Compass, etc.
2. M103: Basic Cluster Administration
- Level: Intro
- Prerequisites: It’s recommended to take M001 first
- Format: Short pre-recorded video segments with periodic assessments to check on your progress
- Time commitment: 3 weeks
- What you’ll learn: Learn how to start administering MongoDB deployments and how to tailor your approach based on the makeup of a cluster. The course includes hands-on learning as you build standalone nodes, replica sets, and sharded clusters from scratch.
3. M121: The MongoDB Aggregation Framework
- Level: Intro
- Prerequisites: We highly recommend taking M001 or M220P or 3-6 months experience using MongoDB in application development.
- Format: Video lectures and assignments
- Time commitment: 3 weeks
- What you’ll learn: Confidently use the MongoDB Aggregation Framework for tasks including document transformation and data analysis. Understand the framework from the inside out so you can use its pipeline as you develop applications.
4. M201: MongoDB Performance
- Level: Intro
- Prerequisites: M001, M220, or at least 6 months of experience building applications with MongoDB
- Format: Video lectures and assignments
- Time commitment: 3 weeks
- What you’ll learn: Learn best practices and techniques for achieving performance at scale in a MongoDB system. The course will teach you about common performance scenarios and how to analyze and address them.
Other courses
While the courses at MongoDB University are hard to beat, there are a couple of other platforms that offer MongoDB courses.
5. MongoDB – The Complete Developer’s Guide (Udemy)
- Price: Normally priced at $164.99, but catch it on a Udemy sale day for a fraction of the price
- Level: Beginner to advanced (no prior knowledge is required)
- Format: Udemy course with video lectures and more
- Time commitment: Self-paced; work through 17 hours on-demand video, 26 articles, 49 downloadable resources
- What you’ll learn: Build up your MongoDB knowledge from scratch. The course covers web and mobile app development, efficient data handling, CRUD operations, indexes, aggregation, and more, and comes with a certificate of completion
6. MongoDB Essentials – Understand the Basics of MongoDB (Skillshare)
- Level: Beginner
- Format: Skillshare course with slides and command line examples
- Time commitment: 32 minutes
- What you’ll learn: The basics of MongoDB: how to install it, create document storage collections, manage data, and more. The goal is to provide a foundation of knowledge before you start learning about developing applications.
Documentation
If you like to learn by reading, there are plenty of written resources you can turn to. Check out these three.
7. MongoDB Docs (various guides)
Explore resources covering topics like how to start MongoDB with your favorite programming language, how various operations work (e.g. aggregation and database commands), products you can use in the cloud, and more.
8. Use Case Guidance: Where to use MongoDB (whitepaper)
This 20-page white paper helps you identify applicable use cases for MongoDB, and also covers a few situations where you should evaluate alternative solutions.
9. How to get started with MongoDB in 10 minutes (blog post)
If you’re just learning how to start MongoDB, this Medium post from freeCodeCamp will take you through first steps and basic commands such as querying, filtering data, deleting, updating, and so on. It’s a good resource to keep open and refer back to as you get going with MongoDB.
Live events
10. MongoDB webinars
MongoDB often runs webinars on a wide variety of topics. Attending one gives you the chance to explore new topics and see what catches your interest.
At the time of writing, their offerings include events like:
- Build Better Apps Fast with MongoDB Stitch
- Back to Basics Webinar Series
- Best Practices for Running MongoDB on AWS
The specific webinars available will differ based on when you look, of course. However, if you don’t want to wait, MongoDB also has three on-demand webinars:
- Webinar: Get Started with the MEAN Stack
- Webinar: MongoDB Operations Best Practices
- Webinar: NoSQL Is Driving Innovation And Business Growth
What’s Next?
Once you feel confident in your MongoDB skills, the next step is earning a MongoDB certification. MongoDB Certified Professionals are recognized for their knowledge and expertise with MongoDB applications. It’s a great addition to your LinkedIn or resume that can help you stand out when you’re applying to companies that use or plan to implement MongoDB.
Start by taking the intro courses at MongoDB University and you’ll learn how to use MongoDB in no time. The effort is well worth it for developers who want database software on the next level.