MongoDB Best Practices for Modern Web Applications

# MongoDB Best Practices for Modern Web Applications

MongoDB is a powerful NoSQL database that's widely used in modern web applications. This guide covers essential best practices for working with MongoDB effectively.

Schema Design

Embedding vs Referencing

Choose between embedding and referencing based on your use case:

Embedding is good for: - Small, related data - Data that's frequently accessed together - One-to-many relationships where the "many" side is small

Referencing is good for: - Large documents - Frequently updated data - Many-to-many relationships

```javascript // Embedding example { _id: ObjectId("..."), name: "John Doe", address: { street: "123 Main St", city: "New York" } }

// Referencing example { _id: ObjectId("..."), name: "John Doe", addressId: ObjectId("...") } ```

Indexing Strategies

Proper indexing is crucial for query performance:

```javascript // Create indexes db.users.createIndex({ email: 1 }) db.users.createIndex({ name: 1, email: 1 }) // Compound index

// Use explain to analyze queries db.users.find({ email: "user@example.com" }).explain("executionStats") ```

Query Optimization

1. Use Projection: Only fetch fields you need 2. Limit Results: Use limit() to restrict result size 3. Use Aggregation: For complex queries, use aggregation pipeline 4. Avoid Large Skips: Use cursor-based pagination instead of skip()

```javascript // Good: Using projection db.users.find({}, { name: 1, email: 1 })

// Good: Cursor-based pagination db.users.find({ _id: { $gt: lastId } }).limit(20)

// Avoid: Large skips db.users.find().skip(10000).limit(20) // Inefficient ```

Security Best Practices

1. Authentication: Always enable authentication 2. Authorization: Use role-based access control 3. Encryption: Encrypt sensitive data 4. Input Validation: Validate all inputs 5. Regular Updates: Keep MongoDB updated

Performance Tips

1. Connection Pooling: Use connection pooling 2. Read Preferences: Configure read preferences for replica sets 3. Write Concerns: Set appropriate write concerns 4. Monitoring: Use MongoDB Atlas or monitoring tools

Conclusion

Following MongoDB best practices helps you build scalable, performant applications. Focus on proper schema design, indexing, and query optimization for best results.