Learning Cypher

Write powerful and efficient queries for Neo4j with Cypher, its official query language with this book and ebook

Overview

• Improve performance and robustness when you create, query, and maintain your graph database
• Save time by writing powerful queries using pattern matching
• Step-by-step instructions and practical examples to help you create a Neo4j graph database using Cypher

In Detail

Neo4j is generating much interest among NoSQL database users for its features, performance and scalability, and robustness. The software also provides users with a very natural and expressive graph model and ACID transactions with rollbacks. However, utilizing Neo4j in a real-world project can be difficult compared to a traditional relational database. Cypher fills this gap with SQL, providing a declarative syntax and the expressiveness of pattern matching. This relatively simple but powerful language allows you to focus on your domain instead of getting lost in database access. As you will learn in this book, very complicated database queries can easily be expressed through Cypher.

This book is a practical, hands-on guide to designing, implementing, and querying a Neo4j database quickly and painlessly. Through a number of practical examples, this book uncovers all the behaviors that will help you to take advantage of Neo4j effectively, with tips and tricks to help you along the way. The book starts with the basic clauses and patterns to perform read-only queries with Cypher. You will then learn about clauses and tips that can be used with patterns to elaborate results coming from pattern matching. Next, you will master the clauses required to modify a graph. Once you have got these basics right with the help of practical examples, you will then learn about tools and practices to improve the performance of queries and how to migrate a database to Neo4j from the ground up. To finish off, the book covers Cypher operators and functions in detail.

What you will learn from this book

• Design and create flexible and fast graph databases using the Cypher declarative syntax
• Write powerful, readable, and reusable queries with pattern matching and parameters
• Develop fast applications using best practices to improve the performance of your Cypher queries
• Transition smoothly from SQL to Neo4j
• Migrate relational databases to the graph model, getting rid of O/R mismatch
• Avoid the common mistakes and pitfalls in programming with Neo4j

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Querying Neo4j Effectively with Pattern Matching
Chapter 2: Filter, Aggregate, and Combine Results
Chapter 3: Manipulating the Database
Chapter 4: Improving Performance
Chapter 5: Migrating from SQL
Appendix: Operators and Functions