NoSQL Databases
NoSQL databases are non-relational data management systems designed for handling large volumes of unstructured, semi-structured, or structured data with flexible schemas. They prioritize scalability, performance, and availability over strict ACID compliance, making them suitable for modern applications like real-time analytics, content management, and IoT. Common types include document, key-value, column-family, and graph databases.
Developers should learn NoSQL databases when building applications requiring horizontal scaling, high throughput, or handling diverse data formats like JSON, XML, or graphs. They are ideal for use cases such as big data processing, real-time web apps, social networks, and caching layers where relational databases may be too rigid or slow. For example, MongoDB is used for document storage in agile development, while Redis excels as an in-memory key-value store for caching.