Difference Between Relational and Non-Relational Database

Development teams often discuss the database requirements when planning a new application or project as to what kind of database should be used in the project. There are mainly two types of databases- Relational Databases and Non-relational databases. When comparing these two databases, it’s important to understand that both databases are equally useful in their own way. It can’t be said that one type of database is better than the other.

Read: Top 6 Databases to Use in 2022

So, what’s the difference between these two databases? We will find out today in this blog post. Before we talk about the two databases, let’s understand what a database is.

What is a Database?

A database is an organized collection of information or data stored in a system. The one that controls the database is called a database management system (DBMS). The data is typically organized into rows and columns to make data querying and data processing easier and more efficient. The data in a database can be easily accessed, updated, modified, and managed.

Relational Databases

A relational database is a structured or SQL (Structured Query Language) database that stores data in tables (in rows and columns). Each row in the table is a record with a unique ID called the key. The columns of the table consist of data attributes, and each record generally has a value for each attribute, which makes it easy to establish the relationships among data points. In a relational database management system, the relation between each data point is very clear and easy to search through. The relationship between tables and field types is what we call a schema, which should be clearly defined in the case of a relational database.

Let’s understand with an example. If you want to look at the weather of a particular day at a particular time, then the Table would be ‘Weather’, ‘Days’ would be put in columns, ‘Time’ would be put in rows, and the ‘Temperature (°C or °F) would be the data points.

With the help of this table structure, you would be able to easily sort, filter, analyze the information, etc. If we ever need to find a relationship between tables, for instance, if you want to know what the weather was at a certain time and associate it with a baseball game’s predicted score, we will have to create a key. This key allows establishing the connection between two or more tables to solidify associations between the two.

Some of the popular SQL databases are MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, etc.

Also Read: Top 7 Local Databases For Building React Native Apps

Non-Relational Databases

Unlike a relational database, a non-relational database doesn’t use the tabular schema of rows and columns to store data but rather uses a storage model optimized for the type of data being stored. In this case, the dataset isn’t clearly defined or structured, and thus you can’t establish relationships among the datasets.

While relational databases are called SQL databases, non-relational databases are known as NoSQL databases. Take the example of Facebook Messenger. It uses a NoSQL database as it contains tons of unstructured data or information which can’t be segmented into rows and columns.

A NoSQL database can use other types of query language, which are-

1. Documented-Oriented Databases

It is designed for storing, retrieving, and managing document-oriented information. This database usually pairs each key with a complex data structure.

2. Key-value Stores

This is one of the simplest NoSQL databases. It uses different keys and each one is associated with only one value in a collection.

3. Wide-Column Stores

This database may seem like a relational database as it also makes use of tables or rows and columns but here, the names and format of the columns can vary from row to row in the same table.

4. Graph Stores

This database makes use of graph structures for semantic queries with nodes, edges, and properties to represent the data.

Non-relational databases are getting very popular as businesses begin to leverage big data for analysis and reporting. These databases offer more adaptability and flexibility than relational databases as critical data doesn’t always fit well into a pre-defined schema.

Some of the popular NoSQL databases are MongoDB, Redis, Google Cloud Firestore, etc.

Read: MongoDB vs MySQL

Relational vs Non-Relational Databases

Summing up the difference between relational and non-relational databases- the former stores the data in rows and columns like a spreadsheet whereas the latter uses a storage model that is best suited for the kind of data it’s storing.

Whether you need a relational or non-relational database depends on many things, such as whether the data fits perfectly in rows and columns or requires a more flexible space. It can also depend on the size of the dataset. Non-relational databases are found to be a better fit for large datasets. They can store unlimited sets of data of any type and also offer the flexibility to change the data type. Relational databases, on the other hand, work best with small and medium-sized data sets.

Also, if you have a small engineering team, a relational database would be a good fit as it takes relatively less time to manage and there are good chances that your team already knows enough about SQL. A non-relational database may require more programming knowledge or learning other types of query languages.