Integrating Node.js with MongoDB: Inserting and Reading Data

Integrating Node.js with MongoDB is a popular choice for developers building modern web applications due to its ease of use, scalability, and flexibility. MongoDB, a NoSQL database, pairs well with JavaScript-based Node.js, creating a powerful combination for managing and interacting with databases. In this blog, we will walk through the process of inserting and reading data from MongoDB using Node.js, explaining the code step-by-step.

Why Use MongoDB with Node.js?

Node.js is widely used for server-side applications due to its non-blocking I/O model and fast performance. MongoDB, being a document-based NoSQL database, stores data in JSON-like format (BSON). Using MongoDB with Node.js simplifies data interaction since JavaScript objects are natively supported, allowing seamless data exchange.

Some of the advantages of integrating MongoDB with Node.js include:

• Scalability: Easily scale both database and application based on load.
• Flexibility: NoSQL schema allows flexible and dynamic data structures.
• JSON Format: MongoDB stores data as JSON-like documents, which aligns with JavaScript objects used in Node.js.

Now let’s dive into the practical implementation where we insert and read data from MongoDB using Node.js.

Setting Up MongoDB and Node.js

Before we begin, ensure you have MongoDB installed and running on your machine, and Node.js set up.

1. Install MongoDB: Download MongoDB from here.
2. Install Node.js: Download and install Node.js from here.
3. Install MongoDB Driver for Node.js: To interact with MongoDB from Node.js, install the mongodb package by running:

npm install mongodb@4.8

Once everything is set up, we can move forward with writing the code.

Code Explanation: Inserting and Reading Data

Here’s the full code for integrating Node.js with MongoDB:

const { MongoClient } = require("mongodb");

const uri = "mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017";

const client = new MongoClient(uri);

async function ConnMongodb() {
    const database = client.db("demo2-db");
    const students = database.collection("student");

    const mydoc = {
        name: "Harsh",
        phone: 11675,
        marks: 50,
        remarks: "nice"
    };

    const query = { name: "Harsh" };
    const option = { projection: { _id: 0, name: 1, phone: 1 } };

    const insertOut = await students.insertOne(mydoc);
    const stdata = await students.findOne(query, option);
    console.log(stdata);

    await client.close();
}

ConnMongodb();

Let’s break this code down step-by-step to understand how it works:

1. Import the MongoDB Client:

const { MongoClient } = require("mongodb");

• We import MongoClient from the mongodb package. This is the primary client interface that will allow us to interact with our MongoDB server.
• The MongoClient is the entry point for connecting to the MongoDB database.

2. Define the URI for MongoDB Connection:

const uri = "mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017";

• We define the URI of the MongoDB server that we will connect to.
• "mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017" refers to a MongoDB server running locally on your machine at port 27017, which is the default port for MongoDB.

3. Create the MongoDB Client:

const client = new MongoClient(uri);

• The MongoClient instance is created by passing the URI.
• This client is responsible for establishing the connection with the MongoDB server and managing interactions with the database.

4. Connect to MongoDB and Select the Database and Collection:

const database = client.db("demo2-db");
const students = database.collection("student");

• We use the client.db() method to connect to a specific database. In this case, we are connecting to the database named demo2-db.
• The database.collection() method selects a collection within the database. In this case, we are working with the student collection.
• If the database or collection doesn’t exist, MongoDB will create it automatically when the first record is inserted.

5. Prepare the Document to Insert:

const mydoc = {
    name: "Harsh",
    phone: 11675,
    marks: 50,
    remarks: "nice"
};

• We define a document (mydoc) which is an object containing the details of a student: name, phone, marks, and remarks.
• This document will later be inserted into the student collection.

6. Insert the Document into the Collection:

const insertOut = await students.insertOne(mydoc);

• insertOne() is used to insert a single document into the collection.
• In this case, we insert mydoc into the student collection.
• The await keyword ensures that the program waits for the insertion to complete before moving on to the next step.

7. Query the Data:

const query = { name: "Harsh" };
const option = { projection: { _id: 0, name: 1, phone: 1 } };

• We create a query object to find a document with the name Harsh.
• The projection option specifies which fields to include or exclude in the result. In this case, we are excluding the _id field (by setting it to 0) and including only the name and phone fields (by setting them to 1).

8. Retrieve the Data Using `findOne()`:

const stdata = await students.findOne(query, option);
console.log(stdata);

• We use findOne() to search for the document that matches the query (name: "Harsh").
• The projection options ensure that the _id field is excluded from the result.
• Once the document is found, we log it to the console, which will display:

9. Close the MongoDB Connection:

await client.close();

• Finally, we close the connection to the MongoDB server using client.close(). Always close the connection when the operations are done to free up resources.

Conclusion

In this blog, we explored how to integrate Node.js with MongoDB and perform basic operations such as inserting and reading data. By breaking down each line of code, we saw how easy it is to interact with MongoDB using the official mongodb package for Node.js. This simple setup is powerful for building dynamic and scalable applications.