Exterminate! Your Database Woes with Neo4j

Abstract

In this essay, we’re going to introduce two things that our dear to our hearts. The first is something that’s been with both of us from our childhood – the BBC’s sci-fi series Doctor Who. This show is based on the adventures of an alien humanoid called The Doctor (a Timelord from the Planet Gallifrey no less) who travels through time and space making friends, defeating enemies and generally setting the universe to rights. The show has been running since 1963 and has accumulated a lot of fabulous plotlines, wondrous artifacts, and menacing bad guys – including the infamous Daleks who had us cowering behind the sofa as children, and who still hold sway over our imaginations as adults (sadly). We’d be more than happy simply to share our enthusiasm for Doctor Who with you, but there’s another thing that’s dear to us that we think is pretty amazing: the popular open source graph database Neo4j, the software we work on in our day (and night) jobs. What’s particularly nice is that these two compliment each other brilliantly.