Question: Can DynamoDB be used like a relational database?
Answer
DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, which means it is not a traditional relational database like MySQL or PostgreSQL. It does not support using SQL for querying data and does not have the same structure as a relational database with tables, rows, and columns. Instead, it uses a key-value model where each item is identified by a primary key and can have any number of attributes.
However, you can still model your data in a way that mimics the structure of a relational database. For example, you can use secondary indexes to create one-to-many relationships between items in different tables and use queries and scans to retrieve related items. But in general, DynamoDB is better suited to handle high write and read throughputs and high scalability rather than complex relational queries.
Additionally, you can also utilize the concept of Single Table Design to model relational data in DynamoDB. Find out more here.
Other Common DynamoDB FAQ (with Answers)
- Is DynamoDB based on MongoDB?
- Why must table be empty to enable DynamoDB global tables?
- How to track changes to items in DynamoDB?
- Is connection pooling needed for DynamoDB?
- What is the access pattern in DynamoDB?
- Does DynamoDB support load balancing?
- Does DynamoDB support nesting data?
- How to divert the traffic from S3 to DynamoDB?
- What type of database is DynamoDB?
- Can DynamoDB have null values?
- Who owns DynamoDB?
- Is DynamoDB similar to MongoDB?
- How to enable DynamoDB monitoring?
- Does Amazon DynamoDB store healthcare data?
- Does DynamoDB have tables?