Good reasons NOT to use a relational database?

Question

Can you please point to alternative data storage tools and give good reasons to use them instead of good-old relational databases? In my opinion, most applications rarely use the full power of SQL--it would be interesting to see how to build an SQL-free application.

Answer 1

If the data structure is essentially such that data access is sequential or random via an easily-maintained index while the data itself is contained within a single record structure, a relational database may be overkill. The deciding factors are mainly the complexity of the structure, how it's typically used and the flexibility required of how it's accessed.