Neo4j Terminology
Explains terminology used in Neo4j.
Graph theory terminology
Software
| Term |
Description |
| Neo4j |
A graph database |
| Bolt |
Neo4j’s official language-driver protocol |
| Term |
Description |
| Neo4j Browser |
A web tool for operating Neo4j, with an interface for querying and visualizing data |
| Sandbox |
A temporary, free test database used through Neo4j Browser that expires after several days |
Language
| Term |
Description |
| Cypher query |
Neo4j’s query language |
| Clause |
A component of a Cypher query, such as MATCH, CREATE, or WHERE |
Resources
| Term |
Description |
| Node |
A graph data record; an entity or object in the graph |
| Relationship |
Information connecting nodes; also called an edge |
| Property |
A key-value pair containing data associated with a node or relationship |
| Label |
A label that identifies a node’s role, comparable to a role in an ontology |
| Type |
Identifies the kind of relationship |
Graph data modeling
Graph data modeling
- The process of describing data as a connected graph using nodes and relationships.
Node
- The most basic unit of a graph.
- Represents a conceptually unique entity.
- Connects to other nodes through relationships and can have one or more labels and properties.
Relationship
- Represents an interaction or connection between nodes.
- A relationship always has one direction. It can connect different nodes or form a recursive relationship with the same node.
- A relationship can have one or more properties.
Label
- Groups and categorizes similar nodes.
- Helps optimize queries. Without labels, a query may scan every node. Labels do not have properties.
- A named graph construct used to group multiple nodes into a set.
- Nodes with the same label belong to the same set.
- A label can be identified from the role of a domain object.
Property
- Stores data on a node or relationship as key-value pairs.
Comparison with general terminology
The following table compares terms with nearly equivalent meanings in Neo4j, graph theory, and ontology.
| Neo4j |
Graph theory |
Ontology |
| Node |
Node |
Entity |
| Relationship |
Edge |
Relation |
| Label |
Label |
Role |