Ask HN: Non-trivial web app/data model using NoSQL | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Non-trivial web app/data model using NoSQL

4 pointslsllc4 comments

There's a lot of buzz in modern web app development over things like node.js/express, mongodb, backbone/spine.js etc. etc. There are plenty of "how to build a blog with comments using $STACK_OF_THE_WEEK", but I have yet to see a good discussion of modeling a non-trivial app using a NoSQL db + $STACK_OF_THE_WEEK. It doesn't even have to be that complex, just a bit more complex than a blog example.

Let's take an example: an order processing system. You have products, stock, orders, customers etc. Modeling this using Rails+MySQL is pretty obvious, products have stock, customers have orders, orders have line items, line item have products. Any recommendations or article links on using a NoSQL database + stack? Or should I just stick with a relational setup such as rails.

The Liftweb docs show something similar to a cart system, and supports switching from the file database to mongodb fairly easily. Since mongo is nosql and uses Lift's mapper, it will work the same as the example application.

However, mongodb doesn't support transactions, but does have atomic operation support. If you keep your records small, it should perform well.

http://simply.liftweb.net/index-6.3.html#toc-Section-6.3

I did find some interesting articles on mongodb.org, one for rails+mongodb:

http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/MongoDB+Data+Modeling+an...

And a page of interesting articles (most of which I've seen before) about node.js:

http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/node.JS

So far, this is the best example I've found:

https://github.com/qed42/nodejs-express-mongoose-demo

mongodb+nodejs+express+jade ... just missing backbone or spine!

Not sure if it's any better than rails, but hey, this stack worth more karma points!

That is exactly what annoys me when looking at the website of a new framework. Often you are completely impressed by how simple it is to set up a blog but while building a larger application you realize that it is not suited for your project.

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