[Avg. reading time: 3 minutes]
Neo4J Terms
Instead of having rows and columns, it has nodes, edges, and properties. It is more suitable for specific big data and analytics applications than row and column databases or free-form JSON document databases for many use cases.
A graph database is used to represent relationships. The most common examples of this are the Facebook Friend and Like relationships.
| RDBMS (MySQL) | Neo4J |
|---|---|
| Rows | Nodes |
| Tables | Labels |
| Columns | Properties |
| Foreign Key | Relationships |
| SQL | CQL (Cypher Query Language) |
| create database | create database |
| show database | :dbs |
| use database | :use database |
| show tables | call db.labels() |
| # Comments | // Comments |
| SELECT * from table | Match (n) return n |
Protocols
bolt:// – for drivers (fastest, binary). Default Bolt port: 7687
http(s):// – for REST API access (simpler, but slower)
| Protocol | Description |
|---|---|
| Bolt | Binary protocol designed by Neo4j for high-performance client communication. Default port: 7687. |
| HTTP/HTTPS | RESTful interface for interacting with Neo4j using tools like curl or browsers. Ports: 7474 (HTTP), 7473 (HTTPS). |