Creating a MongoDB database and collection

It is now time to put into practice how to create a MongoDB database and collection. The Chapter 3, Using the MongoDB Shell, will show you how to perform operations using the MongoDB shell. For the purposes of this introductory chapter we will use MongoDB Compass (https://www.mongodb.com/products/compass), which is a free graphical utility you can use to perform administration.

To create a MongoDB database and start a collection using MongoDB Compass, proceed as follows:

1. Open MongoDB Compass using the link as appropriate to your operating system. In this illustration we are using Ubuntu Linux, so we launch using the GUI.
2. Click on the plus sign (+) to create a database:
   

3. When the Create Database dialog box appears, enter the name of the database and the name of the first collection. When first creating a database, you cannot have one without the other. For this illustration, the database will be sweetscomplete and the first collection will be customers:

Congratulations! The database has now been created! If you click on its name in MongoDB Compass, you will see the newly created collection as well: