MongoDB is a well known NoSQL database that provides high productivity and scalability. This NoSQL database harnesses the power of your data by building and managing it in the cloud. Like other document-oriented databases, MongoDB is designed to address the challenges SQL databases cannot cope with. Stuff like:

  • Large volumes of rapidly changing structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data;
  • Agile sprints, quick schema iteration, and frequent code pushes;
  • Object-oriented programming that is easy to use and flexible;
  • Geographically distributed scale-out architecture instead of expensive, monolithic architecture.

If you’re considering or already using MongoDB, you may need a fast way to build apps on top of it to read and write MongoDB documents. That’s where OutSystems and MongoDB come together.

hero-bp-mongodb-tutorial

The OutSystems Build for the Future Hackathon is Back

Join us in September and get hands-on experience with OutSystems Developer Cloud, support a non-profit, and amplify impact.

Register now

Table of contents:


And the good news is that OutSystems now makes it easier than ever to connect your web and mobile apps to this NoSQL database by providing a new MongoDB connector as part of its Integration Builder stack.

If you’re already familiar with Integration Builder, you can skip the next section and jump directly to the tutorial.

What’s MongoDB Connector In Integration Builder?

If you’re an OutSystems developer, you’ve probably heard of Integration Builder. As part of our journey to enhance developer experience and productivity, we created Integration Builder to reduce the effort and expertise required to set up integrations in web and mobile apps. If you’re new here and want to explore more details about this tool, read the blog post on the topic.

Since its launch in 2021, the Integration Builder list of available connectors has grown and, as of the time of this article, it currently supports 13 different systems and databases -- the most recently MongoDB:

list of integration builder connectors 

The Power of MongoDB Atlas and Low-Code

So, what can you do with this combo?

MongoDB allows you to build your data models in an agile fashion. The OutSystems low-code platform, on the other hand, helps you easily and quickly build engaging end-user applications (mobile or web) fast.

These apps can be built on top of a scalable NoSQL database that stores your data securely -- a database like MongoDB. You can change them quickly to accommodate any changes happening in the underlying data structures in MongoDB. This way, by combining this NoSQL database with our low-code platform, you’re able to reap the speed and agility benefits of both, while accelerating your go-to-market and interaction/development cycles.

You can learn more about what you can do with MongoDB here.

Building an App on Top of MongoDB Atlas with OutSystems

Now, time to roll up your sleeves. In this tutorial, we’ll be showing you how to build a reactive web app that integrates with a MongoDB database. Let’s get started!

Requirements

For this tutorial, you’ll need:

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Like all other Integration Builder connectors, the MongoDB connector offers a wizard kind of configuration where the user is guided through several steps:

  • Step 1: Select which MongoDB database to use.
  • Step 2: Identify the required collections.
  • Step 3: If there’s data available in the collection, through sampling, Integration Builder suggests a low-code structure which greatly simplifies the connector usage compared with when using a raw JSON text.
  • Step 4: Publish the connector.
  • Step 5: Reference the newly published connector on your OutSystems application to immediately surface MongoDB data.

Check out the video below where my colleague Andrew Duthie shows you step-by-step how to integrate MongoDB into your app using Integration Builder.


For more videos like this, make sure you check out our Decoded series on YouTube where my colleague Andrew Duthie explores what you can build with OutSystems.

Explore OutSystems and MongoDB

In a time when developers are struggling with growing app backlogs and the lack of integration specialists in the market, OutSystems and MongoDB empower dev teams to develop integrations just as fast and efficiently as you develop the apps themselves, ensuring integrations that work correctly and adjust easily to future demands.

Check out our documentation to explore more about Integration Builder MongoDB.