Following and Followers Database design

[sacarias40]

Hey guys,

im working on a website and i need to design the database so that a user can follow another user and it will be easy to figure out the number of people i follow and the number of followers i have.

I'm using mongoDb btw. http://www.mongodb.org/

can someone please provide an explenation on how i can achieve this by using a NoSql database such as the one i listed?

Thank you

Could you say why you're using a NoSQL?

[sacarias40]

I'm using nosql because its easier to setup, easier to work with, and performs faster.

[pritaeas]

I'm using nosql because its ... and performs faster.

Based on what ? Am curious.

[sacarias40]

Does anybody have an idea of how to design the database structure so a user can follow another user and i can see who follows me and also so i can see who i follow?

Thanks

follow_id (PK, optional field)
user_id (FK)
follower_id (FK, also user id)
datefollowed (datefield, optional)

Like that?

You select on user_id = yourself to see the number and flavour of followers. You search follower_id = yourself to see who you're following.

SO, is your DB huge? Curious about NoSQL as well.

[sacarias40]

At the moment, the database is not huge, just in development at the moment. However, i anticipate that this collection (table) will be large, since people following people will get rather large rather quickly.

NoSql in the case of MongoDb is pretty sweet though, i can store my blogs comments inside my blog record in an embedded document called comments - additionally i can store replies to the comment in the comment itself in arrays, or embedded documents.

You don't need to do any pre-configuring of the database, when you add a document to a collection, if the collection doesnt exist it will create it, as well as any fields that you choose to insert with it also.

Interesting, I had a look at NoSQL, but didn't see the point. Perhaps I'll give it another look. :) Thanks.