Creating a MongoDB Database

In this section, we will walk you through the process of creating and configuring a MongoDB database for your MERN (MongoDB, Express.js, React, Node.js) stack project.

Step 1: Install MongoDB

Before you can create a MongoDB database, you need to have MongoDB installed on your system. You can download the MongoDB Community Server from the official MongoDB website. Follow the installation instructions for your operating system to complete the installation.

Step 2: Start the MongoDB Server

Once MongoDB is installed, you can start the MongoDB server. Open a new terminal window and run the following command:

1mongod

This will start the MongoDB server on the default port 27017.

Step 3: Connect to the MongoDB Shell

To interact with the MongoDB server and create a new database, you need to connect to the MongoDB shell. Open another terminal window and run the following command:

1mongo

This will open the MongoDB shell and connect to the local MongoDB server.

Step 4: Create a Database

In the MongoDB shell, you can use the use command to create a new database. For example, to create a database named 'myapp', run the following command:

1use myapp

This will create a new database named 'myapp' if it doesn't already exist.

Step 5: Verify the Database

To verify that the database was created successfully, you can run the db command in the MongoDB shell. It will display the current database name.

1db

Step 6: Create Collections

In MongoDB, data is stored in collections. You can create collections using the db.createCollection command. For example, to create a collection named 'users', run the following command:

1db.createCollection('users')

You can create multiple collections as per your project requirements.

Congratulations! You have successfully created and configured a MongoDB database for your MERN stack project. You are now ready to start building your backend application using Express.js and connecting it to your MongoDB database.