Good Introduction to Non-Relational Databases

The small book “NoSQL Distilled:” provides a good overview of various NoSQL databases.

It is aimed at tech-savvy individuals, administrators, and developers. Project managers can also quickly gain an overview here. It introduces the common alternatives to classic RDBMS: Key-Value, Document, Column-Family, and Graph databases. The weaknesses of RDBMS are explained, and the authors use their extensive expertise to show how NoSQL databases aim to alleviate or resolve these weaknesses. The authors are by no means euphoric; instead, they assess NoSQL databases quite critically. They speak of “Polyglot Persistence” and recommend critically evaluating the use of database technology from project to project according to the specific requirements.

In addition to the fundamentals such as consistency, replication, and sharding, the authors also explain topics that only become acute after long-term use, such as migration.

All in all, a recommendable book. Personally, however, I did not like the introduction to Column-Family databases. In my opinion, that is not well explained. It would have been better to be a bit more formal there. The rest, on the other hand, would have deserved 5 stars.

Pramodkumar J. Sadalage, Martin Fowler
NoSQL Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Emerging World of Polyglot Persistence
Addison-Wesley
2009