Understanding BSON (Binary JSON)

  • BSON (Binary JSON) is a binary representation of JSON-like documents.
  • It extends JSON’s data model to provide additional data types, such as Date and Binary.
  • BSON is used to encode data in MongoDB, making it efficient for storage and retrieval.

MongoDB Architecture

Databases

  • Databases are containers for collections. Each MongoDB server can host multiple databases.
  • The default database is test, but you can create new ones as needed.

Collections

  • Collections are groups of MongoDB documents. They are analogous to tables in relational databases.
  • Collections do not enforce a schema, meaning documents within a collection can have different structures.

Documents

  • Documents are individual records in a collection, represented as BSON objects.
  • Documents are similar to rows in relational databases but are more flexible due to their schema-less nature.

Basic Commands

  • Show Databases:

      show dbs

  • Lists all databases on the server.

  • Use Database:

      use <db>
    • Switches to the specified database. If it doesn’t exist, MongoDB will create it when data is added.

  • Show Collections:

      show collections
    • Lists all collections in the currently selected database.