For storing data of application choosing the right database is very important. Sometimes choosing the relational database might seem more natural but sometimes this choice may not be successful. Here I am trying to explain the differences between relational and non-relational databases.
Relational Database
A relational database organizes data into one or more tables which consists of columns and rows. All data is organized in the table where columns indicate attributes and every row indicates a single data item which is called records. In simple words, All the information in Relational Database is structured and is organized in tables. Here the primary key is something that identifies each item uniquely and a primary key can contain one or more columns of a table. Different tables can establish relations between them by different foreign keys. SQL is used for executing queries, retrieve data, and editing data. It is used for communicating with a Relational Database.
Advantages of Relational Database
A relational database is great for structured data. And it uses an existing query language (SQL) for making the relation between them. It can handle lots of complex queries and database transactions of data as here data in tables are very well connected by using unique keys. It is great for complex queries and it has easy data navigation. For a high level of data integration transactions are secure and it is very high reliability.
Disadvantages of Relational Databases
It has an up-front schema definition that means it has to maintain schema always. Here Relational Database has no adaptation to changing requirements. For that dynamic changes can affect all the other items in the same table and here data processing is slow. For getting high-performance expensive hardware is required.
Non-Relational Database
A non-relational database refers to a database that has no tabular schema of rows and columns. It maintains an optimized storage model which is very flexible.
It is also known as a NoSQL database that means “Not Only SQL”. The Meaning of that line is you don't need to use just SQL only to query the database, you can use any language which you prefer.
Advantages of Non-Relational Database
Non-Relational Databases are designed for use with low-cost commodity hardware. Here huge volumes of data can be easily handled. It can be easily installed in cheap commodity hardware. That means we can process and store more data within less cost. Non-Relational databases need no schemas. Non-Relational databases technologies have excellent integrated caching capabilities.
Disadvantages of Non-Relational Database
Non-Relational databases don’t have reliability functions. It is not compatible with SQL. We need a manual query language that makes things slower and more complex. It is less stable and may have fewer functionalities compared with a relational database.
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