Graph Database

What Does Graph Database Mean?

A graph database is a type of NoSQL database that stores data in collections of nodes and edges instead of a series of columns and rows. Each node represents a data point and each edge defines a relationship between two nodes.

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Graph databases use graph theory models to illustrate how data points are related. This type of database is useful for storing data that has complex, indirect relationships and querying the shortest path between two data points.

A graph database may also be referred to as a knowledge graph or graph-oriented database. Popular graph database platforms include Neo4j, Tigergraph and Amazon Neptune.

Techopedia Explains Graph Database

A graph database uses graph theory to store, map and query relationships. It is essentially a collection of edges and nodes, with each node representing an entity such as a person or an organization and each edge represents a connection or relationship between two nodes.

A node is defined by a unique identifier and has several edges attached to it, whether incoming or outgoing, and it has a set of properties that are expressed as key-value pairs. An edge is also defined by a unique identifier, and it has a start and an end node, as well as a set of properties.

A graph database is useful for the analysis of relationships and interconnections between data; hence, it is seeing wide use in data mining of social media data, for data with dynamic schemas, such as in supply chain management, as well as in sales, where it is used to determine the interconnections between a customer’s online actions.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…