I have heard of MongoDB for some time and have read quite a few articles and attended some conference seminars about it.  I had put off using MongoDB because I could find no project that really made good use of it.  About two weeks ago I started a project that doesn't really fit into the relational database mold.  I finally had the perfect excuse to devote the time and effort to learning all about MongoDB and take my place among the ranks of developers using NoSQL (whatever that means).

The packages provided by 10gen were easy to find and there were no problems installing them on my Ubuntu laptop.  Rather than searching the web for introductions to MongoDB, I decided to learn it from 10gen (the company who developed MongoDB).  I purchased the rough cut of MongoDB: The Definitive Guide from O'Reilly Safari.  This was the first time I have purchased a rough cut book and so far I have no complaints.  I opted for the e-book version so I could get up a running right away (I am also running out of bookshelf space).  I am 3 chapters in and so far I have no complaints.  I am concerned that the ubiquitous use of documents may cause a square peg/round hole issue, but so far I have no run into any problems.  The use of a JSON super-set makes the syntax feel very natural to me and is a huge plus in my opinion.

I will post my thoughts and experiences here as the project progresses and I learn more about MongoDB.  I love learning new things and so far MongoDB has not disappointed.