June 2012 Summaries

Cypher is Neo4j's data language, familiar yet fresh for creating and querying data. Updates include improved multi-line query support in the web interface, new path identifiers, enhanced string literals, fixes for issues like double optional relationships and missing dependencies. The kernel has been optimized with increased multithreaded performance and simplified logical log configuration options. Indexing improvements include removing unnecessary cache size parameters and reducing contention when accessing index searchers. Neo4j 1.8.M05 is now available for immediate download on the website, along with provisioning on Heroku and discussion channels.

The Neo4j community is now testing the Cypher-JDBC-Driver, which connects to the Neo4j Server Cypher endpoint and implements the JDBC API's to execute Cypher statements remotely. The driver has been tested with various tools such as LibreOffice/OpenOffice, IntelliJ IDEA, DbVisualizer, and JDBC-ODBC bridge on Windows. To further improve the driver, the community is now seeking public testing of the driver with a range of SQL/JDBC tools, including those used for Business Intelligence solutions like Qlikview. The driver has been improved with internal refactoring, bug fixes, support for Streaming Mode of Neo4j-Server, and integration with embedded or in-memory graph databases. To participate in the testing, users can download the driver, set it up to point to a Neo4j Server, and fill out a Google Survey form to provide their findings. The community team will compile a blog post with all contributions, update the Driver with necessary fixes, and make it available as part of the Neo4j distribution.

The Neo4j Manual has been updated to use HTML5 slides generated by the toolchain, which can now produce HTML directly instead of DocBook XML output. The source code and live console are available online, allowing for improved reuse of material in other formats. The toolchain itself is explained in detail on the official Neo4j documentation website.

Neo4j 1.8 Milestone 4 is now available, offering new ways to find happy paths in graphs by updating the core Traversal Framework and introducing new Cypher features. The framework allows traversals to be controlled differently, such as which relationships to traverse at any given position, ordering, and so on. This release introduces bidirectional traversals, enabling faster traversal with less relationships traversed, especially when both start and end nodes are known. Additionally, the "expander" can now view the whole path leading up to the current position, and minor improvements have been made, including metadata about traversals and convenience methods on the Path interface. Users can take advantage of these new capabilities by writing optimized Cypher queries that utilize bidirectional traversals.

GraphConnect is a conference focused on graphs and their relevance in modern data, bringing together developers, technical decision makers, and thought leaders to celebrate graph databases, network analysis, social applications, and open-source projects. The event features prominent speakers such as James Fowler and Rebecca Parsons, offering tutorials, an unConference, and presentations over two days at the Hyatt Regency downtown in San Francisco. The conference takes place on November 5-6, 2012, with a great afterparty at Sens Restaurant across the street, providing opportunities for attendees to network and engage with the GraphConnect community through various participation options such as registering, signing up for updates, proposing their graph projects, or sponsoring the event.