MongoDB (from humongous) is a cross-platform document-oriented database. Classified as a NoSQL database, MongoDB eschews the traditional table-based relational database structure in favor of JSON-like documents with dynamic schemas (MongoDB calls the format ‘BSON’), making the integration of data in certain types of applications easier and faster. Released under a combination of the GNU Affero General Public License and the Apache License, MongoDB is open-source.
MongoDB was first developed by the software company 10gen (now, MongoDB Inc.) in October 2007 as a component of a planned platform as a service product. Then, the company shifted to an open-source development model in 2009, with 10gen offering commercial support and other services. Since then, MongoDB has been adopted as backend software by a number of major websites and services, including Craigslist, eBay, Foursquare, SourceForge, Viacom, and the New York Times, among others. Currently, MongoDB is the most popular NoSQL database system.
