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Top 10 MongoDB Best Practices Every Developer Should Follow
MongoDB is a widely used NoSQL database with high flexibility, scalability, and performance. However, using MongoDB efficiently requires following best practices to ensure optimal performance, security, and maintainability.
In this article, we will explore the top 10 MongoDB best practices that will help you design efficient and scalable applications.
For non-members, read this article for free on my blog: Top 10 MongoDB Best Practices Every Developer Should Follow.
1. Choose the Right Data Model
MongoDB offers schemaless design flexibility, but choosing the right data model is crucial for performance and scalability.
✅ Good Practice (Embedded Documents for One-to-Few Relationships)
{
"_id": 1,
"name": "John Doe",
"orders": [
{ "order_id": 101, "amount": 50 },
{ "order_id": 102, "amount": 30 }
]
}❌ Bad Practice (Using Separate Collections for One-to-Few Relationships)
{
"_id": 1,
"name": "John Doe"
}{
"_id": 101,
"user_id": 1,
"amount": 50
}🔹 Why?
- Embedding is better when there are few related documents.
- Reduces extra queries and improves read performance.
📌 Tip: Use referencing instead of embedding for one-to-many relationships.
2. Indexing for Faster Queries
Indexes improve query performance by reducing the amount of data scanned.
✅ Good Practice (Creating Indexes)
db.users.createIndex({ "email": 1 })
db.orders.createIndex({ "user_id": 1, "amount": -1 })❌ Bad Practice (Querying Without Index)
db.users.find({ "email": "johndoe@example.com" })- This results in a full collection scan, slowing down queries.
🔹 Why?
- Indexing speeds up queries significantly.
- Improves read efficiency, especially for large datasets.
📌 Tip: Use explain("executionStats") to analyze query performance.
