Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “How does a collection differ from a SQL table?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)The difference is that a collection is more flexible and doesn't require a strict schema, while a table has a rigidly fixed structure: an SQL table requires columns and their types to be described upfront, while documents in a MongoDB collection can have different fields and nested objects instead of flat rows. **Key point:** SQL uses `JOIN` to relate tables and `ALTER TABLE` to change structure, while MongoDB more often stores related data inside a single document (nesting instead of JOIN) and simply starts writing new fields with no migrations.Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)ImageThe difference is that a collection is more flexible and doesn't require a strict schema, while a table has a rigidly fixed structure. ### The key differences 1. **Schema** - An SQL table requires columns and their types to be described upfront. - A MongoDB collection requires no schema - documents can have different fields. 2. **Data structure** - A table stores flat rows. - A collection stores documents, which can hold nested objects and arrays. 3. **Changing the data** - In SQL, changing the structure requires a migration (ALTER TABLE). - In MongoDB, you just start writing new fields, old documents stay as they are. 4. **Relationships** - SQL uses JOIN to relate tables. - MongoDB more often stores related data inside a single document (nesting instead of JOIN). **Summary:** a collection is a freer, more flexible document store, while a table is a strictly structured system with fixed columns.For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.