Michael Hunger briefly describes graph databases such as Neo4j and what it is used for
By this time, chances are very likely that you’ve heard of NoSQL, and of graph databases like Neo4j. NoSQL databases address important challenges that we face today, in terms of data size and data complexity. They offer a valuable solution by providing particular data models to address these dimensions. On one side of the spectrum, these databases resolve issues for scaling out and high data values using compounded aggregate values, on the other side is a relationship based data model that allows us to model real world information containing high fidelity and complexity. Neo4j, like many other graph databases, builds upon the property graph model; labeled nodes (for informational entities) are connected via directed, typed relationships. Both nodes and relationships hold arbitrary properties (key-value pairs). There is no rigid schema, but with node-labels and relationship-types we can have as much meta-information as we like. When importing data into a graph database, the relationships are treated with as much value as the database records themselves. This allows the engine to navigate your connections between nodes in constant time. That compares favorably to the exponential slowdown of many-JOIN SQL-queries in a relational database. Read the Full Article Here.
Keywords: Graph Databases • Michael Hunger • neo4j • nosql