Foreword

Where does one start to explain a topic that’s defined by what it isn’t, rather than what it is? Believe me, as someone who’s been trying to educate people in this field for the past three years, it’s a frustrating dilemma, and one shared by lots of technical experts, consultants, and vendors. Even though few think the name NoSQL is optimal, almost everyone seems to agree that it defines a category of products and technologies better than any other term. My best advice is to let go of whatever hang-ups you might have about the semantics, and just choose to learn about something new. And trust me please...the stuff you’re about to learn is worth your time.

Some brief personal context up front: as a publisher in the world of information management, I had heard the term NoSQL, but had little idea of its significance until three years ago, when I ran into Dan McCreary in the corridor of a conference in Toronto. He told me a bit about his current project and was obviously excited about the people and technologies he was working with. He convinced me in no time that this NoSQL thing was going to be huge, and that someone in my position should learn as much as I could about it. It was excellent advice, and we’ve had a wonderful partnership since then, running a conference together, doing webinars, and writing white papers. Dan was spot on...this NoSQL stuff is exciting, and the people in the community are quite brilliant.