Have you chosen MongoDB for Django?
Read this before losing your mind!
Are you new to Django programming or are you thinking of using MongoDB for your web applications? In this article, you will discover the differences between horizontal and vertical scalability, how to integrate MongoDB with Django and potential problems to be aware of. Based on my experience, I will recommend the best option for integrating MongoDB with Django.
Let’s start with the first question…
Is it possible to use MongoDB with Django?
Yes, but not exactly in the way you think!
MongoDB is a non-relational database (NoSQL) that offers many features that make it a popular and optimal choice for modern web applications.
One of the main reasons why MongoDB is considered a useful tool for scaling applications is its ability to scale horizontally.
But what does this mean?
To summarise, horizontal scalability refers to the ability to add more servers to a system to handle a larger workload. In other words, instead of adding more resources to a single server, multiple servers can be added to the system to distribute the workload more uniformly.
This approach is known as “scaling out” and can be very efficient for handling large volumes of data and traffic.
Unlike relational databases, which are designed to operate in a vertically scalable manner.
That consists of increasing the performance of the database by adding more powerful hardware resources to a single server. However, this approach has an upper limit and can be very expensive.
In addition, MongoDB offers features such as data replication and geographical distribution, which make it even more scalable.
In SQL databases, however, this requires making copies of the data across multiple servers (and servers in different geographic locations), but often requires the use of third-party software or database-specific features.
In summary, MongoDB is an excellent choice for modern web applications due to its ability to handle large volumes of data and traffic, advanced features, and cost-effectiveness, especially in the long run.
So, if you are looking for an advanced solution to manage data in your web applications, MongoDB is definitely a choice to consider!
How can you integrate MongoDB into Django?
Django is a web framework written in Python that is really powerful, scalable, secure and is used by the biggest companies in the world (I wrote an article here!).
However, it is a web framework designed to work with relational databases, in fact it officially supports several types of databases, including:
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- SQLite
- Oracle
etc.
In other words, Django’s ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) allows you to interact with the database using Python objects instead of writing SQL queries manually.
This means that using MongoDB (a NoSQL database) with Django requires the use of third-party packages to map Python objects to non-relational database data.
How does Django connect to MongoDB?
Going to the official MongoDB documentation (link here!), there are three ways to connect Django to MongoDB:
- PyMongo: PyMongo is the standard driver through which MongoDB can interact with Django. It is the official and preferred way of using MongoDB with Python. PyMongo provides functionality to perform all the database actions like search, delete, update, and insert. Since PyMongo is available with PyPI, you can quickly install it using a pip command.
- MongoEngine: MongoEngine is a Python Object-Document-Mapper. It’s similar to Object-Relational-Mapper in relational databases. MongoEngine has a declarative API that is easy to learn and use.
- Djongo: If you are using a relational database like SQL and want to migrate to MongoDB, for that you can use Djongo. Without changing the Django ORM, Djongo transpiles all the SQL queries to MongoDB syntax queries.
“Which to choose?”
If you search online, you will find many tutorials that mainly show the use of Djongo to connect Django with MongoDB.
“So is it the best choice or is it the most used?”
Nope, not really!
While Djongo may seem like an interesting option because it allows you to create migrations as if you were using an SQL database, it’s important to note that it may cause compatibility problems with newer versions of Django.
This is because it was designed to work with older versions of Django.
Moreover, Djongo is incomplete and unsupported, with only basic functionality available. It may not be suitable for a complete project that is to be distributed over the network.
So, if you want to use MongoDB with Django, in my experience I recommend that you carefully evaluate the needs of your project and use PyMongo or MongoEngine, which are more stable and supported options.
Using MongoDB with Django can still have some challenges, including the lack of Django’s native admin panel for data management.
However, as a solution, it is possible to use the MongoDB Compass administration panel, which can be downloaded from the official site
(link here!).
Compass offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, so that data can be accessed quickly and easily without having to develop your own interface from scratch or use a third-party one.
But which to choose between PyMongo and MongoEngine?
If you don’t have great needs, maybe you want to develop a project for yourself or for a customer, which doesn’t have too many structural requirements, the best choice would certainly fall on installing via PyMongo, which will allow you to keep all the advantages of a NoSQL and MongoDB database .
Otherwise, if you are working on a large project such as a social network, I recommend you opt for MongoEngine. This option allows you to manage multiple databases in a single project, which makes it suitable for huge platforms like :
- Social Networks
- Saas platforms
- IoT projects
- Mobile Applications
- Ai
etc.
This allows you to handle large volumes of data and traffic in an efficient and scalable way, guaranteeing the stability and security of your project.
Conclusion
In conclusion, using MongoDB with Django is possible, but there are trade-offs to consider.
It’s important to understand what you really need when choosing a NoSQL database. However, if you want to use a non-relational database such as MongoDB, it is a good choice to make your projects highly scalable and sustainable.
Thank you for your attention and if you liked this article, give me a clap below. 👇
