Question

I want to store code similar to how jsfiddle stores code. I currently use Postgres for my main database but I’m wondering if it’s more ideal to be using a NoSQL database?

Code snippets for now will have just one author, but in the future there may be multiple authors and I want the ability for reverting as well.

I know there are key/value databases and document-oriented databases. Which specific noSQL db would suite my needs? Or should I still stick with my Postgres db?

FYI:

1. I’m using django
2. The users will be permanently stored in postgres ( I’m using openID )

Answer 1

You can’t choose a non-relational data strategy without defining what you want to do with your data.

Relational database design comes from rules of normalization, which you can apply once you know your data alone. But non-relational database design depends on your queries more than your data.

But without knowing anything about your application, my first recommendation would be to stick with PostgreSQL. Store your code snippets in text blobs, and meta-data about the code (authorship, date, language, project, etc.) in additional columns alongside the text blob. Also you can consider using GIST indexes to allow for flexible searching.

You might also consider Apache Solr, which is technically similar to a document-oriented DBMS, though it is usually presented as a fulltext search engine.