In this chapter, the focus was on Cypher performance. In the first section, we learned some best practices and several tips to avoid common performance pitfalls. Then, we learned how to read the execution plan of a Cypher query. Finally, we introduced a new feature of Neo4j 2.0: the schema. Although it is still work in progress, it can be very useful in our applications, both to preserve the integrity of our data and to assure good levels of performance.

At this point, you should know how to analyze an expensive query and how to profile it to recognize the reason of the performance decay. You should be able to change the query in order to improve its performance.

In the next chapter, we will learn, through a real-world application, how to migrate a relational database and its related SQL queries to Neo4j and Cypher.