MongoDB: How to define a schema?

Question

So I have an application that uses MongoDB as a database. The application makes use of a few collections.

When and how should I go about defining the "schema" of the database which includes setting up all the collections as well as indexes needed?

AFAIK, you are unable to define empty collections in MongoDB (correct me if I am wrong, if I can do this it will basically answer this question). Should I insert a dummy value for each collection and use that to set up all my indexes?

What is the best practice for this?

Answer 1

To define schema you don't need to create collections in MongoDB. What you can do is just start using them immediately whether they “exist” or not. After that define the “schema”. For that you can use the below-mentioned code:-

db.no_such_collection.getIndices()

[ ] 

> db.no_such_collection.ensureIndex({whatever: 1}) 

> db.no_such_collection.getIndices() 

[ 

{ 

"v" : 1, 

"key" : { 

"_id" : 1 

}, 

"ns" : "test.no_such_collection", 

"name" : "_id_" 

}, 

{ 

"v" : 1, 

"key" : { 

"whatever" : 1 

}, 

"ns" : "test.no_such_collection", 

"name" : "whatever_1" 

} 

]