Learning Neo4j 3.x: Effective data modeling, performance tuning and data visualization techniques in Neo4j , Second Edition

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Getting Started with Neo4j

In this chapter, we will be taking a much closer look at the real subject of this book, that is, learning Neo4j--the world's leading graph database. In this chapter, we will be going through and familiarizing ourselves with the database management system so that we can start using it in the following chapters with real-world models and use cases.

We will discuss the following topics in this chapter:

Key concepts and characteristics of Neo4j
Neo4j's sweet spot use cases
Neo4j's licensing model
Installing Neo4j
Using Neo4j in the cloud
Using Neo4j Sandbox
Using Neo4j in a Docker container

Let's start with the first topic straightaway.

Key benefits

Get acquainted with graph database systems and apply them in real-world use cases

Use Cypher query language, APOC and other Neo4j extensions to derive meaningful analysis from complex data sets.

A practical guide filled with ready to use examples on querying, graph processing and visualizing information to build smarter spatial applications.

Description

Neo4j is a graph database that allows traversing huge amounts of data with ease. This book aims at quickly getting you started with the popular graph database Neo4j. Starting with a brief introduction to graph theory, this book will show you the advantages of using graph databases along with data modeling techniques for graph databases. You'll gain practical hands-on experience with commonly used and lesser known features for updating graph store with Neo4j's Cypher query language. Furthermore, you'll also learn to create awesome procedures using APOC and extend Neo4j's functionality, enabling integration, algorithmic analysis, and other advanced spatial operation capabilities on data. Through the course of the book you will come across implementation examples on the latest updates in Neo4j, such as in-graph indexes, scaling, performance improvements, visualization, data refactoring techniques, security enhancements, and much more. By the end of the book, you'll have gained the skills to design and implement modern spatial applications, from graphing data to unraveling business capabilities with the help of real-world use cases.

What you will learn

1) Understand the science of graph theory, databases and its advantages over traditional databases.

2) Install Neo4j, model data and learn the most common practices of traversing data

3) Learn the Cypher query language and tailor-made procedures to analyze and derive meaningful representations of data

4) Improve graph techniques with the help of precise procedures in the APOC library

5) Use Neo4j advanced extensions and plugins for performance optimization.

6) Understand how Neo4j s new security features and clustering architecture are used for large scale deployments.

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Charriere Nov 23, 2017

This book is a kind of technical Bible. If you need to learn how to use NEo4J from scratch (0 to hero), it's definitely the best resource of the moment.

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J. Webber Feb 11, 2018

As someone who has also written a book on graph databases, I like to keep my eye on the competition :-) Jerome and Rik's book is an excellent competitor. It conveys deep expertise in an enthusiastic and humane way. It is very accessible for those new to graphs and is very up to date with Neo4j. Even as an advanced practitioner there is much to be liked in seeing how graphs are applied and Cypher queries developed. A very worthwhile read.

Olivier Croisier Nov 28, 2017

Disclaimer : a copy of this book was sent to me for review by the author. However, I tried to express an unbiased point of view here.Neo4j is a graph database. I never had the chance to actually use it, but it was on my watch list for a while, so this book came as an excellent opportunity to lean more about it.I should say that I buy and read a lot of technical books. I'm often left frustrated because they don't cover much more than the official docs or only explain the hows instead of the whys.But it appeared that this book was quite the opposite, and that it was obviously written by very experienced Neo4j users. Furthermore, I found it entertaining and easy to read, and I completed it in about a week of short studying sessions.This said, retrospectively, the order of some chapters seemed quite illogical to me, so I'll group them by topic below, rather than book ordering.Now let's start the review.Chapter 1 is the obligatory introduction to graph databases : historical examples, basics of graph theory, and comparison with others SQL or NoSQL databases.Chapter 2 guides you in a very beginner-friendly way through the database installation process (with many screenshots), on Windows, Mac and Linux, and even on Docker if you prefer to keep it isolated.Chapter 3 explains the art of data modelling in the realm of graph databases, and describes the most common (anti-)patterns.It is supplemented with Chapter 12, which deals with refactoring.Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are all about queries : first with the bare Cypher query language, then with the APOC extension library, and finally with our own functions and procedures. Those chapters are filled with pragmatic advices and, in my opinion, really show the author's many years of experience with the product - as do the detailed use-case studies presented at the end of the book.Chapter 9, I think, could/should have been inserted right here, because it introduces (yet another) APOC extension dedicated to spatial data and queries. It also explains how to efficiently import data from map providers such as OpenStreetMaps, which is nice.Chapters 14 and 15 should have been here too, because they are the real hidden gems of this book. Both are use-case analysis. The former guides you through the implementation of a realistic recommendation engine ; the latter demonstrates how a company's processes can be modelled as a graph in order to perform an impact analysis on dimensions such as prices or delays.Chapter 7 deals with performance : query plans, indexes... Nothing really graph-specific here.Chapters 8 lets us load data into Neo4j from structured sources such as CSV, JSON, XML, and even other databases through a JDBC driver. I was quite impressed to see that no external CLI tool or an ETL were required for this - only standart Cypher commands.Chapter 11 lists a dozen of graph-compatible visualization tools and libraries, each with a short description and a screen capture. Quite useful to make sense of all that data you just loaded ! Also, it reminds you that Neo4j comes with its own IDE-like web application, complete with a query editor and a graph preview - useful for quick prototyping.Finally, chapters 10 and 13 are more production-oriented and will please the devops people. I must admit I skipped both of them. Security, LDAP integration.and clustering weren't my primary concerns for this first contact with Neo4j. Still good to know it exists, for future reference.In conclusion, I must say that this book is a great resource for first-time Neo4j users.I found it very informative and liked its "batteries included" aspect, with lots of tips, realistic examples and useful external resources.However, if you are in a hurry or if this is your first reading of the book, please take my advice and read the chapters in the order I suggest above !

Pranabjyoti Bordoloi Jun 01, 2018

Gives a quick view into neo4j. For starters.

Stefwef Nov 27, 2018

This is my first book on neo4j or cypher, so I may update my review after I read a few others. I am migrating a relational database to neo4j. I found the neo4j website poorly written and wanted a book that mostly covered modeling and cypher. This book started very strong, but fizzled out.Despite some small proofreading errors (missing words here and there), the first few chapters are clear, succinct, and thorough. It starts with a history and overview of database development which I found very interesting. Chapter 2 is how to setup, and provides the clearest explanation of the licensing options that I've come across.The book starts rushing around Chapter 5, and could have benefited from a slower explanation of APOC syntax. I also wish there was a chapter right after APOC that was more advanced Cypher.In chapters 6, 10, and 13, it assumes you know javascript, LDAP, and clusters. I wish it had slowed down and explained better for non-web developers like me. Chapter 13 has sentences with two verbs or mismatched verb tenses, like translated badly from another language.The Chapter about imports does not cover the import admin tool at all, which I found very odd but maybe this is a new feature since last year.Chapter 14 and 15 presents some case examples that are very useful, and I wish there had been more advanced modeling topics. In general, the advanced modeling examples is what I missed the most. When you are migrating a functioning relational database, you want to make sure the new system will be able to provide the function you need before you go through the full motion, and there are so many ways to migrate that it's necessary to understand both the modeling and the function it allows. I just ordered another book that seems to focus more on that.Here are features I wish were covered and were not:- Best case modeling and query optimization for seeking by omission-finding items WITHOUT a relationship or without a relationship to specific nodes.- How to "undo", or best practices to keep a history: is it to duplicate node and create -VERSION_OF->? In that vein, I would have loved for a case example of developing a wiki.- best practices to trigger generation of unique IDs or GUIDs on create. This seems perhaps so basic that not covered anywhere even online.- I wish there was a section about recursion. Chapter 15 shows semi-recursion with calculations along every level in a hierarchy, but the hierarchy is built-in. Along those lines, I wish he explained how to find the leaves in any "one" relationship-type tree, the lowest leaves among them, and assign a "height" to each node to successfully run the recursion upward.- How to find out what all children might have in common. For example: Mom wants to take kids to the cinema, but can only do so if her kids all agree on what movie to see, so to return only list of movies that the kids all have in common.- I have yet to come across good advice on best model for how to migrate relationships where the join table's row-ID is a foreign key for a fourth table. From my case, it looks like I will have to add some intermediary nodes.Merci!

Learning Neo4j 3.x: Effective data modeling, performance tuning and data visualization techniques in Neo4j , Second Edition

What do you get with Print?

Learning Neo4j 3.x

Getting Started with Neo4j

Key concepts and characteristics of Neo4j

Built for graphs from the ground up

Sweet spot use cases of Neo4j

Complex join-intensive queries

The features

The license conditions

Installing Neo4j

Installing Neo4j on Windows

Using Neo4j in a cloud environment

Key concepts and characteristics of Neo4j

Built for graphs from the ground up

Sweet spot use cases of Neo4j

Complex join-intensive queries

The features

Note

The support

The license conditions

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Learning Neo4j 3.x: Effective data modeling, performance tuning and data visualization techniques in Neo4j , Second Edition

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