The need to handle increasingly larger data volumes is one factor
driving the adoption of a new class of nonrelational "NoSQL" databases.
Advocates of NoSQL databases claim they can be used to build systems
that are more performant, scale better, and are easier to program.
NoSQL Distilled is a concise but thorough introduction to this
rapidly emerging technology. Pramod J. Sadalage and Martin Fowler
explain how NoSQL databases work and the ways that they may be a
superior alternative to a traditional RDBMS. The authors provide a
fast-paced guide to the concepts you need to know in order to evaluate
whether NoSQL databases are right for your needs and, if so, which
technologies you should explore further.
The first part of the book concentrates on core concepts, including
schemaless data models, aggregates, new distribution models, the CAP
theorem, and map-reduce. In the second part, the authors explore
architectural and design issues associated with implementing NoSQL. They
also present realistic use cases that demonstrate NoSQL databases at
work and feature representative examples using Riak, MongoDB, Cassandra,
and Neo4j.
In addition, by drawing on Pramod Sadalage's pioneering work, NoSQL
Distilled shows how to implement evolutionary design with schema
migration: an essential technique for applying NoSQL databases. The book
concludes by describing how NoSQL is ushering in a new age of Polyglot
Persistence, where multiple data-storage worlds coexist, and architects
can choose the technology best optimized for each type of data access.
