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Graph Query Languages

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Encyclopedia of Big Data Technologies

Definition

A query language is a high-level computer language for the retrieval and modification of data held in databases or files. Query languages usually consist of a collection of operators which can be applied to any valid instances of the data structure types of a data model, in any combination desired.

In the context of graph data management, a graph query language (GQL) defines the way to retrieve or extract data which have been modeled as a graph and whose structure is defined by a graph data model. Therefore, a GQL is designed to support specific graph operations, such as graph pattern matching and shortest path finding.

Overview

Research on graph query languages has at least 30 years of history. Several GQLs were proposed during the 1980s, most of them oriented to study and define the theoretical foundations of the area. During the 1990s, the research on GQLs was overshadowed by the appearance of XML, which was arguably seen as the main alternative to relational databases...

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://tinkerpop.apache.org/

  2. 2.

    http://www.opencypher.org/

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Correspondence to Renzo Angles , Juan Reutter or Hannes Voigt .

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Angles, R., Reutter, J., Voigt, H. (2018). Graph Query Languages. In: Sakr, S., Zomaya, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Big Data Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63962-8_75-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63962-8_75-1

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