When not to use a graph database and what to use instead

As we discussed earlier in this chapter, the whole concept of the category of Not Only SQL databases is all about task-orientation. Use the right tool for the job. So that must also mean that there are certain use cases that graph databases are not as perfectly suited for. Being a fan of graph databases at heart, this obviously is not easy for me to admit, but it would be foolish and dishonest to claim that graph databases are the best choice for every use case. It would not be credible. So, let's briefly touch on a couple of categories of operations that you would probably want to separate from the graph database category that Neo4j belongs to.

The following operations are where I would personally not recommend using a graph database like Neo4j, or at least not in isolation.