Neo4j is the leader in the graph DBMSs world. It is based on the property graph model and allows you to build structured graph database solutions. The basic concepts of a graph database are nodes (that represent entities you want to define into your database) and arches (that represent relationships between nodes).

Neo4j uses a very intuitive and clever language to create and query data: Cypher. Cypher is a language that uses the ASCII-Art syntax. This is a graphic representation of what you want to explain. Following this convention, if you want to refer to a node in the graph, you use round brackets; if you want to refer to a relationship, you use square brackets. An example of a Cypher syntax is this: (a)-[:TEACHES]->(b) (it means that a teaches b).

In this lab, you will start using Cypher to create nodes and relationships to populate a Neo4j graph database.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this beginner level lab, you will be able to:

• Understand the basic principles of the Cypher language to create data
• Use the Cypher language to create nodes and arches

Intended Audience

• Data engineers who want to start using Neo4j as a graph database solution
• Developers who want to start learning Cypher to populate their graph database

Prerequisites

To get the most out of this lab, you should have basic knowledge of the concepts of graph databases and Neo4j. To achieve this, we suggest taking the following lab:

• Introduction to Graph Database with Neo4j

Updates

September 2nd, 2022 - Updated the instructions and screenshots to reflect the latest UI

July 7th, 2022 - Fixed environment error