Learn MongoDB: The Best Courses and Resources

Website building skills are imperative to many tech jobs, from engineering to development. If you’re building a website from the server-side, you’re going to need to store the reams of data that the site will generate.

Though there are many options for this process, MongoDB remains popular with back end developers. It’s easy to use and even easier to learn. Here’s everything you need to know about MongoDB and the resources to learn it.

What Is MongoDB?

MongoDB is a cross-platform document-oriented database program. It works from JSON-like documents to store unstructured data with full indexing support.

MongoDB is flexible enough to store data across any operating system. It uses human-readable text to store and organize information. You can find data with ad-hoc queries based on field, ranges, or regular expression searches.

As a document-oriented program, MongoDB provides schema-free systems that focus on document names to find information. The contents of the documents serve as values that are searchable after the document is found. Because of its focus on documents, MongoDB is often used with media or commerce companies.


Besides its indexing and query abilities, MongoDB supports both replication and load balancing. This makes it a perfect option for database management, and a great skill to have.

What Jobs Use MongoDB Skills?

Because of MongoDB’s flexibility and diverse skillset, many developer and engineer positions use it daily. Below is a small sample of some jobs that you could get after mastering MongoDB.

• Software Engineer. Back end software engineers will always need a file system for their data. MongoDB is a viable alternative to other systems like MySQL (structured query language). If you decide to go the software engineer route, you may also need to work in other coding languages to meet your other needs. MongoDB will get you started and remain a vital tool throughout your career. 
  
  
• Full Stack Engineer. Full stack engineers work in both the client and server sides of building a website. They build everything from a site’s data structure to how people navigate the site on a daily basis. MongoDB provides an easy and simple solution for creating databases for sites you may be working on.
  
  
• Server Developer. Many sites that are already up and running need workers that can maintain their servers. Server developers help this process while allowing businesses to keep growing out. All you need is MongoDB and another common coding language or cloud platform, and you can get the job.
  
  
• Data Analyst. Data analysts help businesses make decisions for their future based on data analysis. Because companies have already been storing their own data—sometimes thousands of data points a day—analysts have to learn to dig. MongoDB can help you find data efficiently.
  
  
• DevOps Engineer. DevOps engineers ensure that software development and IT operations work together in harmony. They need to know about both sides to properly supervise the process. A DevOps engineer’s knowledge is broad, and that knowledge should include MongoDB.
  
  

Steps to Learn MongoDB

MongoDB is accessible, but you still have to make the effort to learn it. It’s vital to databases and high-volume data storage in general. It may take some time to build up your experience with the system, so here are some steps to help you get there.

1. Study Databases

Even if you know MongoDB’s capabilities, it’s still worth your while to learn more about databases and how they serve people’s needs. If you learn the terminology for MongoDB’s abilities, your path to learning the software will be much smoother.

There are sites online where you can learn database terminology before diving in. It also may be worth comparing and contrasting different databases before deciding if MongoDB is right for you.

2. Take a Course

You’ll need help to pick up on the nuances of MongoDB’s document storage model. Thankfully, many people have already put those nuances into courses that you can use to get a handle on things.


MongoDB courses are built to help people of all learning styles and levels of comfort with coding. Take your time and find the course or courses that are right for you. Read below to see some of the best MongoDB courses out there.

3. Pick Up Another Language

MongoDB is great on its own, but as a database program, it’s often paired with other coding languages and environments. Whichever one you study is up to you, but a few common languages can help you out.

Ruby on Rails is an open-source web application development framework. Developers have used it to build popular sites like Airbnb, Twitch, Hulu, and more. There’s a guide to start learning Ruby on Rails on their site, and plenty of courses online. The Amazon Web Services cloud platform is also common, so consider earning certification for your resume. Certifications can help set you apart in the hiring process.

4. Consider a Bachelor’s Degree

Though you can develop a good grasp of MongoDB through self-study, you can also go the college route. Many positions will accept people without a bachelor’s degree if you have a good grasp of the technology. However, a degree can open more doors and give you even more training.

There are plenty of great computer science degree programs out there to get you started on the MongoDB path. You should also have no problem mastering other languages and becoming a complete backend coder.

The Best Courses to Learn MongoDB

There are plenty of options when it comes to going from a beginner to a pro in MongoDB. If you’re a beginner or an expert, you’ll be able to find a course that’s right for you. Here are a few of the best online courses to learn MongoDB.

MongoDB – The Complete Developer’s Guide 2020

This course is designed for people with no prior knowledge of databases. You can get a grasp of MongoDB on any operating system. Over its 17 hour running time, you’ll learn about all of the features of MongoDB, how it differs from SQL databases, and how to carry out every operation you’ll need over the course of your career. 

CRUD Operations using MongoDB NoSQL

MongoDB is designed to organize data more like a human mind than SQL, which holds data in columns and rows. This course will teach you more about how objects are organized in MongoDB databases. You can learn how to build out a functional, editable database over the course of just an hour. 

Professional Certificate in Data Processing and Analysis

This certificate from ITMO University’s edX walks you through the skillset you’ll need to work as a data analyst. You’ll learn how to interact with MongoDB and SQL databases, and how to visualize and organize the data for machine learning purposes. This course also covers lots of the common methods for machine learning, and the problems you’ll encounter in that field.

 

Create a Python Application using PyMongo and MongoDB Database

This two-hour course instructs students on how to build an application using PyMongo, a Python library designed to communicate with MongoDB. This is the perfect opportunity for those who have a basic knowledge of MongoDB. You can see how it interacts with other coding languages in an everyday setting. 

Why Learn MongoDB?

By learning MongoDB, you’ll give yourself a way into the tech industry. MongoDB should be in demand for quite a while, and it will look great on your resume when you apply for tech jobs.

There are several tutorials online that you can use to get a hold of everything MongoDB offers. Because of MongoDB’s rising popularity, many coding languages now have libraries to integrate it. 

MongoDB offers new coders a fresh way of grasping the database process. It has a host of uses in the tech industry. MongoDB is easy to learn and even easier to master, so there are no excuses. Start learning MongoDB and expand your job opportunities.