Use relational database as document database: get the best of both worlds

Problem with document database: can rapidly become a mess, it's difficult to rearrange and can consume a lot of resources when scanning.

Problem with relational database: schemas (tables/columns) are too static and must be maintained on the database side and code side.

Solution: A database that internally stores documents in tables by breaking down documents' attributes into rights tables' fields "on the fly".

Benefits of the solution:

• Schemaless structures maintain in the code
• Performance and efficiency of relational database
• Easier to maintain in the long term
• Consume much fewer resources (cheaper in the cloud)

Examples

Single document - code side

  var doc = {
         email: "[e-mail]",
         firstname: "Dwain",
         lastname: "Jonhson",
         username: "dwainjonhson"
  };
  doc.save();

  collection("users").find({username: "dwainjonhson"});

  /*
      {
         trid : 2,   // auto id generation
         email: "[e-mail]",
         firstname: "Dwain",
         lastname: "Jonhson",
         username: "dwainjonhson"
      }
  */

Single document - Database side

> select * from users;

TRID   EMAIL                       FIRST_NAME     LAST_NAME     USERNAME
------ --------------------------- -------------- ------------- --------------
     2 [e-mail]     Dwain          Jonhson       dwainjonhson

Nested documents - code side

  var doc = {
         email: "[e-mail]",
         firstname: "Dwain",
         lastname: "Jonhson",
         username: "dwainjonhson",
         phones: [{
           alias: "home",
           number: "[phone]" 
         },{
           alias: "mobile",
           number: "[phone]" 
         }]
  };
  doc.save();

  collection("users").find({username: "dwainjonhson"});

  /*
      {
         trid : 2,   // auto id generation
         email: "[e-mail]",
         firstname: "Dwain",
         lastname: "Jonhson",
         username: "dwainjonhson"
         phones: [{
           trid : 1,   // auto id generation
           alias: "home",
           number: "[phone]" 
         },{
           trid : 2,    // auto id generation
           alias: "mobile",
           number: "[phone]" 
         }]
      }
  */

Nested documents - database side

> select * from users;

TRID   EMAIL                       FIRST_NAME     LAST_NAME     USERNAME
------ --------------------------- -------------- ------------- --------------
     2 [e-mail]     Dwain          Jonhson       dwainjonhson

-- Nested phone documents automatically organized in table with the proper relationship.
> select * from users_phones;

TRID   USERD_TRID   ALIAS             NUMBER
------ ----------- ----------------- ------------------------
     1           2 home              [phone]
     2           2 mobile            [phone]      

Wanted: Feedbacks!

• How that would help you overcome the common issues working with SQL or Document databases?
• Any suggestions?

Comments

[Vincent Milum Jr]

Modern "relational" databases natively support JSON data as well, and this can be used along side existing schema based data.

mariadb.com/kb/en/json-data-type/
mariadb.com/kb/en/json-functions/

[Nicolas Penot]

Indeed Vincent. But the idea here is that you don't have to define a data model at all. The database will cast your JSON in tables transparently. Thus you can have the benefit of a document database with the benefit of a relational database.
Have you ever use Mongodb in a project?