NoSQL Database Types
The four main categories of NoSQL databases: document, key-value, column-family, and graph.
Definition
NoSQL databases are categorized by data model: document stores (MongoDB, CouchDB) store JSON-like documents enabling flexible schemas; key-value stores (Redis, DynamoDB) provide fast O(1) lookups by primary key; wide-column stores (Cassandra, HBase) organize data in column families for time-series and analytical workloads; graph databases (Neo4j, Amazon Neptune) store data as nodes and edges for relationship-heavy queries. Each type excels at specific query patterns and trade-offs between consistency, scalability, and flexibility.
Example
“An e-commerce platform uses Redis (key-value) for session caching and cart data, MongoDB (document) for product catalog with varying attributes, and Neo4j (graph) for product recommendation relationships between users and purchases.”
Synonyms
- NoSQL categories
- non-relational database types
- database data models
Images
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Related Terms
- nosql
- sql
- cap-theorem
- redis