In this section, we will talk about the need for a new query language, such as Cypher. We will then deep-dive into its constructs, syntax, and structure of Cypher queries for retrieving data from the Neo4j database.
Over the last 25 years, a lot of research has been done on graph query languages and now, with the advent of Web 2.0, which is focused on collaboration and sharing, they have undergone a recent resurgence. It not only introduced the complexities of linked data, such as social networks, but also highlighted the fact that data is not isolated and is all about connections in it.
As a result, there are many languages that evolved over time and a few of them also gained popularity, such as the ones listed next:
SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARQL
Gremlin: http://gremlin.tinkerpop.com/
Metaweb query language (MQL): https://developers.google.com/freebase/v1/mql-overview
There are...