NoSQL

Definition

A category of databases that don't use traditional SQL and relational tables, originally meaning 'No SQL' but rebranded to 'Not Only SQL' when developers realized they might still need SQL occasionally. It's for when you want to scale fast and define schemas never.

Example Usage

We switched to NoSQL because our data model changes every sprint and schema migrations were killing us.

Origin

Term coined around 2009 during a meetup about distributed databases, became trendy around 2010-2012

Fun Fact

NoSQL databases became so popular that some startups used them exclusively, only to spend years building SQL-like features on top, eventually arriving back at SQL with extra steps.

Source: Database technology and distributed data storage systems

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