MongoDB is an open source document database and a NoSQL database. Listed below are the set of advantages of MongoDB over RDBMS.

MongoDB Over RDBMS

• MongoDB is schema-less, where one collection holds different documents (records/rows)
• No complex Joins are present
• MongoDB supports a deep query ability, i.e., documents inside collections are queried through the document query language, which is as powerful as SQL
• MongoDB is easy to scale
• No mapping is required, everything is done by itself

Why MongoDB?

1. Information is stored together for fast query access through the MongoDB query language.
2. MongoDB uses dynamic schemas, meaning, you can create records without first defining the structure, such as the fields or the types of their values.
3. You can change the structure of records (that we call documents) by simply adding new fields or deleting the existing ones.
4. This data model gives you the ability to represent hierarchical relationships, to store arrays, and other more complex structures easily.
5. Documents in a collection need not have an identical set of fields and de-normalization of data is common.
6. Includes out-of-the-box replication and auto-sharding.

Installation and Testing of the MongoDB Environment in the Windows Platform

Hardware & Software Requirement Specifications for Installing MongoDB on a Windows platform

• MongoDB runs on most of the Operating Systems, like Linux, Mac, Windows, Solaris, etc., but only on little-endian hardware.
• Also, 64-bit hardware is usually needed.
• RAM: Minimum of 2 GB is required.

Refer to the following link with your environments.

https://www.mongodb.com/download-center#community

Follow the Following Steps One at a Time

The following steps are required to install MongoDB on Windows:

Step 1: Download the latest version of MongoDB

Bottom of Form

Make sure you get the correct version of MongoDB depending upon your Windows version. (Choose legacy.)

For 64 bit, use this link to download: https://www.mongodb.org/downloads

Step 2: Extract the zip file.

Step 3: Set up the MongoDB environment.

• Create a folder with the name MongoDB within this path: C:\mongodb
• Have a list of four folders along with the one for the property file as shown in the following screenshot.
  • bin folder contains all your Mongo executable files
  • conf file is just the configuration file
  • We use the data folder for the purpose of storing data
  • Create one more folder called db inside it
  • The logs folder is used for checking mongo related errors

  Paste the following link in mongodb.conf.txt

  # mongodb.conf

  # Data

  dbpath=c:\mongodb\data\db

  # Log

  logpath=c:\mongodb\logs\mongodb.log

  logappend=true

  # Only run on localhost for development

  bind_ip=127.0.0.1

  # Default MongoDB port

  port=27017

  Save the file after copy pasting it. With this, we are done with the installation.

  Let us test the Mongo environment next.

  • Open the command prompt from C:\mongodb\bin
  • Type mongod.exe

   

  Check the following command to ensure successful installation:

  • Open one more command prompt from the same path:

  “C:\mongodb\bin”

  • Type: mongo.exe

  As we type this command, it shows the following screenshot:

   

  When mongo.exe is executed, it is confirming that database is being run on the default port number: 12017

  So when we use this for development purposes at the local, mongo binds to the following IP address: 127.0.0.1

  With this we are done with MongoDB installation and testing.

  CRUD Operations Using MongoDB

  Follow the following steps one at a time:

  Step 1: Create the database by typing the following commands (refer to the screenshot below):

   

  Step 2: Create the collections (i.e., Tables in SQL)

   

  Step 3: Insert some records using the following commands:

  db.Students.insert(

  { item: “notebook”, qty: 50, tags: [“red”, “hard cover”, “plain”], size: { h: 8.5, w: 11, uom: “in” } }

  )

   

  Step 4: Fetch records for the inserted values in the table (Step 3)

  • Type the following commands:

   

  db.Students.find().pretty();

  Find the following screenshot:

   

  Inserting MongoDB Commands Added in the Mongo Environment

  db.collection.insertOne()

  Find the syntax below:

  db.collection.insertOne(

  <document>,

  {

  writeConcern: <document>

  }

  )

  Syntax explanation:

  document: A document (records) that needs to be inserted into the collections

  writeConcern: Optional

  Find two sample examples with screenshots below:

  Sample 1: Insert the document without specifying an _id Field

  Type the following code as shown in the screenshot below.

  

  Sample 2: Insert the document specifying an _id field.

   

  Observe the IDs in both the samples.

  1. When you insert the document without an ID, MongoDB will automatically assign the objectID which will be unique for all the records,
  2. When you insert the document with an ID, MongoDB will give insertedId as the response.

  db.collection.insertMany()

  This command signifies multiple documents to the collection.

  Find the syntax given below:

  db.collection.insertMany(

  [ <document 1> , <document 2>, … ],

  {

  writeConcern: <document>,

  ordered: <boolean>

  }

  )

  document: An array of documents to insert into the collections and the datatype is document

  writeConcern: Optional, and the datatype ID document

  Ordered: It’s optional as well. The datatype is Boolean, specifying the MongoDB instance that should perform an ordered or unordered insert.

  We have two samples for the execution.

  Sample 1: Insert several documents without specifying an _id field

  See the screenshot below for the query and output:

   

  Sample 2: Insert the following document with specifying _IDs

   

  In both the samples, observe the IDs

  Observations:

  1. When you insert the document without an ID, MongoDB will automatically assign an objectID that will be unique for all the records.
  2. When you insert the document with an ID, MongoDB will give an insertedId as the response.

  Update Operations in MongoDB

  db.collection.update(query, update, options)

  Modifies the existing document or documents in the collection and this method can modify the existing document or replace existing documents depending on the update parameter.

  By default, the update method is updated in only a single document.

  Syntax:

  db.collection.update(

  <query>,

  <update>,

  {

  Upsert:<boolean>,

  multi:<boolean>,

  writeConcern:<document>,

  Collation: It specifies the protocols such as the usage of letercase and accent marks

  collation:<document>

  }

  Syntax explanation:

  query: It’s the selection criteria for the update, and the datatype is document.

  <Update>: The modifications to apply, and the datatype is document.

  Upsert: This is optional if set to true creates a new document when no document matches with the given criteria and the default value is false which does not insert a document when a new match is found.

  multi: It’s also optional if set to true updates multiple documents that meets the query and if set to false updated one document.

  writeConcern: Optional

  Let’s see the examples on update operation:

  Updating the document by ID

  Example: Type the following command

  db.products.update(

  { _id: 80 },

  {

  $set: {

  item: “Baby Socks”,

  }

  }

  )

  See the results in the following screenshots:

  To check the updated record in the database, type the following command:

  db.products.find().pretty()

  Check the following screenshot for the output.

   Deleting Operations in MongoDB

  db.collection.remove()

  It removes the documents from the collection.

  Syntax:

  db.collection.remove(

  <query>,

  <justone>

  )

  Syntax explanation:

  Query specifies deletion criteria using query parameters and the datatype is document. Just one is optional and you can limit the deletion to just one document.

  Deletion in MongoDB can be done in two ways:

  • Remove all documents from a collection

  db.products.remove({})

  See the example shown in the following screenshot:

   

  • Remove a single Document that matches a condition

  db.Students.remove({qty:{$gt:50}},true)

   

  Conclusion: We hope this blog made you learn the initial basics of the MongoDB environment from installation steps and CRUD manipulations.