[jseifer]

I'll bite. Use the right tool for the job. I think that's what things have always boiled down to. It just so happened that sql was the right tool for the job a lot of the time in the web app space. It still is.

But now we're at a place where there are a lot of options. You can use CouchDB, Tokyo cabinet/tyrant, redis, mongodb, and a host of other alternative storage engines. You don't have to drop your sql database, you can supplement it and take some of the load off of your current db.

I think the whole "right tool for the job" thing takes on new meaning these days. The right tool for the job could now be a combination of sql, mongo, and tokyo cabinet. It depends on the job, the app, and the requirements. But I wouldn't dismiss any NoSQL option so quick.

[timwiseman]

I don't think he is dismissing NoSQL options at all. Rather, what I think his point is (and know mine is) is that many people recently tend to dismiss SQL options out of hand for various reasons, often just the newness of NoSQL.

Sometimes NoSQL is truly better, but sometimes SQL is better. Neither should be neglected out of hand.