We don't think that a relational database is the best home for all data out there.
But we think that in most scenarios, it should be your default option, especially if:
- Incorrect data is a significant problem. Relational databases excel at constraining data and keeping invalid data out of the database
- Ad-hoc reporting is needed. Normalized relational databases are very easy to query and to extract data from in most scenarios
Relational databases also benefit from being one of the most mature data storage technologies, so we have reliable, featureful implementations with huge ecosystems behind them.
In short, we think that unless you have a well-argumented reason for choosing another data store, your best initial option is a relational database.
We will discuss reasons to look into other data stores in [TODO].