Saving and evaluating network paths in Neo4j
Modeling structures like the social graph of Facebook, connections to friends and their acquaintances, or your follower structure on Twitter is surprisingly difficult with traditional databases. Trying to map a network path – easily represented with squiggles and arrows on a whiteboard – with a relational model inevitably leads to performance-hungry join statements, the natural enemy of responsive websites.
The Neo4j [1] graph database natively stores graph models and offers fantastic performance – as long as you don't overcook the complexity of the queries. Its generic storage model consists of nodes and relationships. Both can possess attributes; for example, a node that represents a person could contain a name field for storing the name or carry a relationship is_friends_with and its intensity (best_friend, casual_friend).
Cypher Query Language
The Neo4j query processor takes inquiries in the SQL-style Cypher language, rummages through the data located in the database, and quickly returns results that Cypher also filters and processes in SQL style (i.e., sort, group, etc.).
[...]
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