This series by Robert Sheldon covers MongoDB from first principles through advanced usage: setting up MongoDB Atlas and Compass, working with documents and collections, querying and aggregating data, building indexes and views, schema validation, time-series collections, and connecting through Python and the MongoDB Shell.

The series closes by comparing SQL and MongoDB’s query language (MQL) directly, for readers moving from a relational background.

Articles are listed below in order, from beginner to advanced — start at the top if you’re new to MongoDB, or jump to the topic you need.

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

How to move from SQL to MongoDB (MQL syntax comparison guide)

SQL and MongoDB’s MQL compared side by side — CREATE, SELECT/find, JOIN, GROUP BY, UPDATE, DELETE, and indexes — with…

30 May 2025 27 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Working with the MongoDB Database Tools

The MongoDB Database Tools are a set of command-line utilities for working with MongoDB instances and their data. You can…

29 April 2025 16 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Working with MongoDB Shell

Throughout this series, I’ve provided a number of examples of how to run commands in MongoDB Shell (mongosh). However, the…

10 April 2025 18 min read 1

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Importing and exporting data in MongoDB Compass

When working with MongoDB, you’ll likely need to import or export document data from time-to-time. You can use MongoDB Compass…

05 March 2025 16 min read 1

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

How to create MongoDB time series collections (setup and granularity guide)

How to create MongoDB time series collections — timeField, metaField, granularity options, automatic expiration, and querying, with worked examples.…

27 January 2025 15 min read 2

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Working with MongoDB Indexes

Throughout this series, I’ve covered a number of topics about working with MongoDB collections and their data. One topic I…

26 November 2024 20 min read 1

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

How to connect to MongoDB with Python (PyMongo CRUD guide)

How to connect to MongoDB from Python using the PyMongo driver, and perform create, read, update, and delete operations —…

05 November 2024 19 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Creating Views in MongoDB: Aggregation Pipelines, $lookup Joins, On-Demand Materialized Views, and MongoDB Compass

Creating views in MongoDB using aggregation pipelines – standard views, on-demand materialised views with $merge, joining collections with $lookup, filtering…

16 October 2024 16 min read 11

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

MongoDB schema validation guide: handling existing documents

How to find, bypass, update, and delete documents that violate MongoDB schema validation rules — plus validationAction and validationLevel options.…

13 September 2024 18 min read 1

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

How to add schema validation rules to a MongoDB collection with $jsonSchema

How to add schema validation rules to a MongoDB collection with $jsonSchema — required fields, data types, enums, null handling,…

21 August 2024 21 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Working with Documents in the MongoDB Compass GUI

Throughout this series, I’ve discussed various ways to work with the documents in a MongoDB collection. If you’ve been following…

10 July 2024 23 min read 1

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Deleting Documents from a MongoDB Collection

So far in this series, we’ve looked at different ways that you can add, retrieve, and update documents in a…

24 June 2024 15 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Updating Documents in MongoDB

In the previous articles this series, I demonstrated various ways to retrieve document data from a MongoDB database, using both…

29 April 2024 21 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Building MongoDB Aggregations in MongoDB Compass

In the previous article in this series, I demonstrated how to build and run an aggregate statement in MongoDB Shell….

02 April 2024 22 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

How to build MongoDB aggregations (match, group & sort explained)

How MongoDB’s aggregate method and pipeline stages work — $match, $unwind, $group, $project, and $sort — built up through a…

01 March 2024 21 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

Querying MongoDB Documents

MongoDB provides an efficient environment for storing document data at scale. However, most of your interactions with MongoDB will not…

22 January 2024 25 min read

Robert Sheldon in NoSQL

Introducing the MongoDB Document

MongoDB is a document database. As such, the data is stored as individual documents. A document is a data structure…

26 December 2023 18 min read

Robert Sheldon in MongoDB

How to get started with MongoDB: Atlas, Compass, and your first collection

How to set up MongoDB Atlas, connect with MongoDB Compass, and create your first database, collection, and documents — a…

13 November 2023 18 min read