Why Realtime Database differs from Firestore in Firebase - See It in Action

Why Realtime Database differs from Firestore

📖 Scenario: You are learning about Firebase databases. Firebase offers two main database services: Realtime Database and Firestore. Both store data but work differently under the hood.Imagine you want to build a chat app. You need to understand how these two databases handle data storage and updates to choose the right one.

🎯 Goal: Build a simple Firebase configuration that shows the key difference between Realtime Database and Firestore in how they store and update data.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Firebase Realtime Database reference with a sample data path

Create a Firestore collection reference with a sample document

Add a configuration variable to switch between Realtime Database and Firestore

Write code to update data in the selected database type

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Choosing between Firebase Realtime Database and Firestore is important when building apps that need real-time data syncing, like chat apps or live dashboards.

💼 Career

Understanding these two Firebase databases helps developers design scalable and efficient cloud data storage solutions.

1

Setup Firebase Realtime Database reference

Create a variable called realtimeRef that points to the Firebase Realtime Database path 'chat/messages' using firebase.database().ref().

Firebase

# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use firebase.database().ref('chat/messages') to get the reference.

2

Setup Firestore collection reference

Create a variable called firestoreRef that points to the Firestore collection 'chatMessages' using firebase.firestore().collection().

Firebase

const realtimeRef = firebase.database().ref('chat/messages');
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use firebase.firestore().collection('chatMessages') to get the collection reference.

3

Add database type configuration

Create a variable called useFirestore and set it to true to select Firestore, or false to select Realtime Database.

Firebase

const realtimeRef = firebase.database().ref('chat/messages');
const firestoreRef = firebase.firestore().collection('chatMessages');
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Set useFirestore to true or false depending on which database you want to use.

4

Write update logic for selected database

Write code that updates the message { text: 'Hello, world!' } in the selected database. Use firestoreRef.add() if useFirestore is true, otherwise use realtimeRef.push().

Firebase

const realtimeRef = firebase.database().ref('chat/messages');
const firestoreRef = firebase.firestore().collection('chatMessages');
const useFirestore = true;
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use an if statement to check useFirestore. Call add() on firestoreRef or push() on realtimeRef.