MongoDB and Python

This intermediate-level class will teach you techniques using the popular NoSQL database MongoDB, its driver PyMongo, and the object-document mapper Ming to write maintainable, high-performance, and scalable applications. We will cover everything you need to become an effective Ming/MongoDB developer from basic PyMongo queries to high-level object-document mapping setups in Ming.

The class will begin with a brief overview of MongoDB and its Python driver PyMongo. We will cover basic operations using PyMongo, including data manipulation, querying, and GridFS. Students will install MongoDB and PyMongo as part of this section.

We will then describe the design philosophy and setup of Ming, a SQLAlchemy-inspired object-document mapper (ODM) for MongoDB developed at SourceForge.

Next we will cover the base-level implementation of Ming, including schema design, the session and datastore, lazy migrations, data polymorphism, and GridFS support. We will also cover effective MongoDB index design, querying, and updating techniques, and how to use these with Ming. Students will install Ming as a part of this section, and have exercises covering schema design, lazy migrations, and GridFS.

The final segment will cover the object-document mapper portion of Ming. We will cover the unit of work design pattern, object relations, ODM-level polymorphism, and how to drop down to the base layer (or even down to pymongo) when you really need to. This section will include exercises in designing your ODM model and effectively using the unit-of-work session.

This talk targets Python 2.6-2.7 and MongoDB 2.0. Students should have Python 2.6 or 2.7 installed on their machines prior to the class and should be comfortable using virtualenv and pip or easy_install to install packages.