by Mike Miller
Apache CouchdDB is a schema-free document database with unique characteristics that make it an excellent fit for a new wave of applications. It is a rapidly maturing product and one of the leaders of the NoSQL movement. I will briefly highlight the defining characteristics of CouchDB (REST API, JSON key/value store, MapReduce views, replication/conflict-resolution), focusing on solving problems for both application development and application deployment. I will then highlight lessons learned from running CouchDB at scale in production systems with an eye towards future development of the CouchDB project.