NoSQL Expert Patterns (Cassandra & DynamoDB)

Overview

This skill provides professional mental models and design patterns for distributed wide-column and key-value stores (specifically Apache Cassandra and Amazon DynamoDB).

Unlike SQL (where you model data entities), or document stores (like MongoDB), these distributed systems require you to model your queries first.

When to Use

• Designing for Scale: Moving beyond simple single-node databases to distributed clusters.
• Technology Selection: Evaluating or using Cassandra, ScyllaDB, or DynamoDB.
• Performance Tuning: Troubleshooting "hot partitions" or high latency in existing NoSQL systems.
• Microservices: Implementing "database-per-service" patterns where highly optimized reads are required.

The Mental Shift: SQL vs. Distributed NoSQL