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MongoDB Academy · Lección

Creación de índices de un solo campo y compuestos

Creará índices de un solo campo y compuestos, y observará los cambios en el plan de consulta con explain('executionStats').

Creación de índices de un solo campo y compuestos es una lección gratuita de MongoDB Academy en CoddyKit. Esta es la lección 2 de 4. Puedes leer la lección completa abajo gratuitamente — luego la practicas en el navegador con un editor de código integrado y un tutor de IA 24/7. Forma parte de la ruta de aprendizaje de MongoDB Academy, y tu progreso se sincroniza en la web y la app de CoddyKit. El curso de MongoDB Academy incluye 4 lecciones en total.

Partes de esta lección aún no han sido traducidas y se muestran en inglés.

Single-Field Index Basics

A single-field index is the simplest index type: it tracks the values of exactly one document field in a sorted B-tree. You create one with db.collection.createIndex({ field: 1 }), where 1 means ascending order and -1 means descending. Single-field indexes are ideal for queries that filter or sort on just one field.

// Create a single-field ascending index on 'email'
db.users.createIndex({ email: 1 });

// This query now hits the index instead of scanning every document
db.users.find({ email: 'alice@example.com' });

Naming Your Indexes

MongoDB auto-generates an index name like email_1 or age_-1 from the field name and direction. You can override this with the name option to give meaningful labels to your indexes—especially helpful when managing many indexes in production or when the auto-generated name would exceed the 127-character limit imposed on compound indexes with many fields.

db.users.createIndex(
  { email: 1 },
  { name: 'idx_users_email' }
);

// List all indexes with their names
db.users.getIndexes();

What Is a Compound Index?

A compound index tracks multiple fields together in a single B-tree. The entries are sorted first by the first field, then by the second field within each group of the first, and so on. This makes compound indexes far more selective and versatile than multiple single-field indexes for queries that filter or sort on several fields at once.

// Compound index on lastName (asc) then firstName (asc)
db.users.createIndex({ lastName: 1, firstName: 1 });

// This single index satisfies all three queries efficiently:
db.users.find({ lastName: 'Smith' });
db.users.find({ lastName: 'Smith', firstName: 'John' });
db.users.find({}).sort({ lastName: 1, firstName: 1 });

The Prefix Rule for Compound Indexes

A compound index on { a, b, c } can serve queries on { a }, { a, b }, and { a, b, c }—these are called index prefixes. It cannot serve a query on just { b } or { c } alone because the B-tree is ordered by the first field first. Understanding the prefix rule helps you avoid creating redundant single-field indexes when a compound index already covers them.

db.orders.createIndex({ userId: 1, status: 1, createdAt: -1 });

// Supported by the compound index (prefixes):
db.orders.find({ userId: 'u1' });
db.orders.find({ userId: 'u1', status: 'pending' });
db.orders.find({ userId: 'u1', status: 'pending' }).sort({ createdAt: -1 });

// NOT supported - skips the first key
db.orders.find({ status: 'pending' }); // still does COLLSCAN

Creating a Compound Index

You create a compound index by passing an object with multiple fields to createIndex. Field order matters: put equality fields first (fields filtered with $eq or exact values), then range fields, then sort fields. This arrangement ensures the index is used for both filtering and sorting in one traversal, following the ESR (Equality, Sort, Range) principle.

// Orders queried by userId (equality), sorted by date (sort),
// then filtered by amount (range)
// ESR order: userId -> createdAt -> amount
db.orders.createIndex({ userId: 1, createdAt: -1, amount: 1 });

// Perfectly served by this index:
db.orders
  .find({ userId: 'u123', amount: { $gt: 100 } })
  .sort({ createdAt: -1 });

Using explain() to See Index Usage

Always verify that your new index is actually being used with .explain('executionStats'). Look for winningPlan.stage: 'IXSCAN' to confirm index use, and check totalDocsExamined vs nReturned—a well-indexed query should examine roughly the same number of documents it returns.

const result = db.orders.find(
  { userId: 'u123' }
).explain('executionStats');

// Key fields to check:
// result.executionStats.executionStages.stage === 'IXSCAN'
// result.executionStats.totalDocsExamined
// result.executionStats.nReturned

Background Index Builds

In MongoDB 4.2+, all index builds are non-blocking by default: they hold an exclusive lock only briefly at the start and end of the build, allowing reads and writes to continue during the lengthy build phase. On older versions you had to specify { background: true } explicitly. Building a large index can still consume significant CPU and I/O resources, so schedule builds during low-traffic periods in production.

// MongoDB 4.2+: non-blocking by default
db.bigCollection.createIndex({ category: 1 });

// Check ongoing index builds
db.currentOp({ 'command.createIndexes': { $exists: true } });

Dropping Indexes

You can remove an index with db.collection.dropIndex(), passing either the index name or the key specification. Dropping unused indexes reduces write overhead and frees memory. The _id index cannot be dropped. Use dropIndexes() (plural) to drop all non-_id indexes at once—useful when rebuilding an index strategy from scratch.

// Drop by name
db.users.dropIndex('idx_users_email');

// Drop by key pattern
db.users.dropIndex({ email: 1 });

// Drop all except _id
db.users.dropIndexes();

// List remaining indexes
db.users.getIndexes();

Index Statistics With $indexStats

$indexStats is an aggregation stage that shows how many times each index has been used since the mongod process last started. An index with zero accesses is a prime candidate for removal. Combine this data with the index size from db.collection.stats() to build a complete cost/benefit picture for each index in your collection.

db.orders.aggregate([
  { $indexStats: {} },
  { $project: {
    name: 1,
    'accesses.ops': 1,
    'accesses.since': 1
  }}
]);

Compound vs Multiple Single Indexes

Multiple single-field indexes can sometimes be combined via index intersection, but MongoDB's planner prefers compound indexes when they exist. A single well-designed compound index is almost always faster and more predictable than relying on the planner to intersect two separate indexes. Create compound indexes for your most frequent multi-field queries rather than hoping intersection will save you.

// Less ideal: two separate indexes
db.products.createIndex({ category: 1 });
db.products.createIndex({ price: 1 });

// Better: one compound index for the common query pattern
db.products.createIndex({ category: 1, price: 1 });

The 64 Indexes Per Collection Limit

MongoDB allows a maximum of 64 indexes per collection. This is more than enough for well-designed schemas, but if you approach this limit, it is a strong signal that something is wrong—perhaps you have many redundant indexes or a table-like design that doesn't fit the document model. Audit your index usage regularly and prune indexes that have zero $indexStats accesses.

// See how many indexes your collection has
const indexes = db.myCollection.getIndexes();
console.log('Index count:', indexes.length);

// Hard limit: 64 indexes per collection
// Approaching it? Audit with $indexStats first

Quick Check

Test your understanding of single-field and compound indexes in MongoDB.

Lesson Recap

In this lesson you learned: single-field indexes track one field in a sorted B-tree and support equality, range, and sort queries, compound indexes track multiple fields and must be queried using their prefixes, and ESR ordering (Equality, Sort, Range) maximises compound index effectiveness. Next up we explore special index properties like unique, sparse, partial, and TTL.

Preguntas frecuentes

¿La lección «Creación de índices de un solo campo y compuestos» es gratis?

Sí — el texto completo de «Creación de índices de un solo campo y compuestos» es gratis para leer aquí en la web. Para practicarla de forma interactiva (editor de código integrado y tutor de IA 24/7) y desbloquear el resto del curso de MongoDB Academy, actualiza a CoddyKit PRO. El curso de MongoDB Academy incluye 4 lecciones en total.

¿Qué aprenderé en «Creación de índices de un solo campo y compuestos»?

Creará índices de un solo campo y compuestos, y observará los cambios en el plan de consulta con explain('executionStats'). Practicas MongoDB Academy con código real que ejecutas directamente en el navegador, y un tutor de IA 24/7 responde tus preguntas mientras trabajas en la lección.

¿Necesito experiencia previa para empezar MongoDB Academy?

No se requiere experiencia previa. MongoDB Academy en CoddyKit está estructurado para principiantes hasta estudiantes avanzados, así que puedes empezar aquí o desde el inicio y avanzar a tu ritmo. Esta es la lección 2 de 4.

¿Cuánto tiempo toma la lección «Creación de índices de un solo campo y compuestos»?

La mayoría de las lecciones de CoddyKit toman alrededor de 5–10 minutos. Cada una es compacta e interactiva, así que avanzas constantemente y retomas exactamente por donde dejaste en la web y la app.

¿Puedo escribir y ejecutar código en esta lección de MongoDB Academy?

Sí. Cada lección de MongoDB Academy incluye un editor de código integrado, así que escribes y ejecutas código real directamente en tu navegador y obtienes retroalimentación instantánea de IA — sin configuración local necesaria.

Todas las lecciones de este curso

  1. Cómo funcionan los índices B-Tree de MongoDB
  2. Creación de índices de un solo campo y compuestos
  3. Propiedades de los índices: unique, sparse, partial y TTL
  4. Lectura del resultado de explain() para diagnosticar consultas
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