Pathfinding queries

Another type of query that is extremely well-suited for graph databases is a query where you will be looking to find out how different data elements are related to each other. In other words, finding the paths between different nodes on your graph. The problem with such queries in other database management systems is that you will actually have to understand the structure of the potential paths extremely well. You will have to be able to tell the database how to jump from table to table, so to speak. In a graph database, you can still do that, but typically you won't. You just tell the database to apply a graph algorithm to a starting point and an endpoint and be done with it. It's up to the database to figure out if and how these data elements are connected to each other and return the result as a path expression for you to use in your system. The fact that you are able to delegate this to the database is extremely useful, and often leads to unexpected and valuable insights.

Obviously, the query categories mentioned are just that: categories. You would have to apply it to any of the fields of research that we discussed earlier in this chapter to really reap the benefits. We will come back to this in later chapters.