NoSQL Ascension Highlights Developer Survey
I found it interesting that Evans Data chose to lead with the growth of NoSQL in the enterprise when it began hawking its latest North American Development Survey today.
Not programming languages used, mobile development or even the cloud. But rather, the ascension of NoSQL. What does this prove? It's the data, stupid.
The survey reported that 56 percent of respondents were using some flavor of NoSQL and 63 percent planned on doing so in the next two years. The reason, Evans Data, said, was scale. Massive amounts of data become awkward to handle in traditional relational database schemas. And these huge depositories, spawned on explosively growing Web sites such as Google and Facebook, are becoming more commonplace in the enterprise.
"The advent of Big Data is driving adoption of NoSQL, and this is especially true in the corporate enterprise," the company said in a news release. "While it may have got its start on the Web with innovations like Big Table and MapReduce, it's the enterprise that can most benefit from NoSQL and developers realize this across all geographical regions."
In fact, Evans Data said enterprise adoption dwarfed that of the "general developer population," where only 43 percent of respondents expected to use NoSQL.
Microsoft has to be paying attention to this. They may have been late to the Web, mobile, etc., but the enterprise has always been their stronghold, in SQL Server and many other technologies. If they weren't worried before, they have to be now.
For an interesting, alternative take on the reasons for the growth of the NoSQL movement, read this blog by database expert Andrew J. Brust on the Redmond Developer News site.
Then chime in with your own thoughts about this upsurge in popularity. Comment here or send me an e-mail.
Posted by David Ramel on 06/30/2011