The Practical Guide to Using, Modeling, and Storing JSON in Modern Databases

Read before you buy: the PDF here is a free sample — the first 20 pages of the 351-page book (payments, sales and reviews on this demo site are sample data). Get the full e-book at thenexbooks on Gumroad.

Stop treating JSON columns as a junk drawer.

Every modern database supports JSON — but very few teams use it well. IDs silently lose precision, prices get stored as floats, "flexible" columns become unqueryable, and a simple field rename turns into a production outage.

JSON Data Design is the practical guide that closes that gap. You'll learn not only how to store and query JSON, but when you should, when you shouldn't, and how to design JSON data that stays fast, correct, and maintainable as your system grows.

What's inside (21 chapters + 4 appendices, 350 pages):

Part I — JSON Foundations

• The JSON standard in depth: numbers & the 2^53 problem, Unicode, duplicate keys, I-JSON
• Working with JSON in JavaScript, Python, Java, Go, and C#
• JSON Schema (draft 2020-12) — contracts for your data
• Designing clean JSON APIs: dates, money, nulls, pagination, errors (RFC 9457), JSON Patch & Merge Patch

Part II — Data Modeling with JSON

• Relational vs. document thinking + a decision framework: column, JSON, or table?
• Proven hybrid patterns: custom fields, snapshots, polymorphic payloads, outbox, audit
• Schema evolution & versioning of stored JSON without downtime

Part III — JSON in Databases

• PostgreSQL json/jsonb, GIN & expression indexes, jsonpath, JSON_TABLE
• MySQL & MariaDB JSON, multi-valued indexes, JSON_SCHEMA_VALID
• SQL Server, Oracle, and SQLite JSON
• MongoDB document modeling, validation, and indexing

Part IV — JSON in Production

• Performance & storage internals (TOAST, update costs, benchmarking)
• Data integrity & validation inside the database
• Security: injection, prototype pollution, DoS limits, PII & GDPR
• ORMs: Hibernate, Prisma, SQLAlchemy, EF Core, Go
• Analytics, search, and safe data migrations

Part V — Real-World Case Studies

• E-commerce product catalog with faceted search
• Multi-tenant SaaS custom fields & settings
• Event logs, audit trails, and webhooks

Plus: a cross-database JSON cheat sheet, JSON Schema quick reference, production checklist, and glossary.

Who it's for: backend & full-stack developers, data engineers, architects, and anyone who designs APIs or database schemas. You only need basic SQL and one programming language.

Format: PDF, A4, 350 pages, with clickable table of contents and hundreds of runnable code examples.

Book details