Data access models

Probably the most important option to select before creating the Cosmos DB instance is the access model (that is, the API). In our application, we will be using the SQL API since it is inherently the only native access model and allows the usage of additional features such as triggers. This is why the SQL API will be the first access model that we will dive into in this section. Nevertheless, we will also go over the Mongo API, which can provide a viable alternative with its strong community support as well as the mitigated risk of vendor-lock. Other options that will be discussed in this section include Gremlin, Cassandra, and Azure Table Storage.

The SQL API

Previously a standalone offer known as Azure Document DB, the SQL API allows developers to query a JSON-based NoSQL data structure with a SQL dialect. Similar to actual SQL implementations, the SQL API supports the use of stored procedures, triggers (that is, change feeds), and user-defined functions...