Handling Highly Connected Data with the Neo4j Graph Database

Traditional relational databases — ironically — are not that good at the complex relationships some modern applications need. Multiple joins and complex sub-queries can gradually take a toll on performance.

Graph Databases, on the other hand, are all about relationships. In this talk we will look at using the popular Neo4j graph database with PHP to build efficient relational data for OmNomHub: not your average recipe site.

Transcript

1. @michellesanver Graph Databases with PHP and Neo4j #PHPNW14
2. About: Michelle Sanver @michellesanver
3. About: Michelle Sanver @michellesanver President (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
4. About: Michelle Sanver @michellesanver Code Addict (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
5. About: Michelle Sanver @michellesanver Zürich, Switzerland (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
6. About: Michelle Sanver @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Michelle is_from is_from lives_in lived_in
7. Setting expectations. @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
8. Why graphs? @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
9. Why graphs? @michellesanver Graph theory has been studied since Leonard Euler’s Bridges 1736 (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
10. Why graphs? @michellesanver Graphs are really just connected data… They are everywhere (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
11. Why graphs? @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
12. Why graphs? @michellesanver It’s modern. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
13. Why graphs? @michellesanver Facebook open graph (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
14. Why graphs? @michellesanver A graph is an easy way to visualise connected data. Michelle Graphs likes (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
15. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver Relational question: Average age of everyone in this list? Graph question: Who is likely to be hungover from last nights open bar? (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
16. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver Relational databases have tables Recipes (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
17. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver Tables have relationships Recipes Groups (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
18. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver Which causes a join table… Recipes Groups RecipeToGroup (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
19. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver You query via the table Recipes Groups RecipeToGroup (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
20. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver Imagine having *actual* relations Pasta group Spaghetti Italian group (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
21. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver Recipes Groups RecipeToGroup Pasta group Spaghetti Italian group (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
22. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver Would you still pick relational? (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
23. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver A big query. The EAV model. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
24. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) SET @entityid = '3'; SELECT ea.attribute_id, ea.attribute_code, eav.value AS 'value', 'varchar' AS 'type' FROM catalog_category_entity e JOIN catalog_category_entity_varchar eav ON e.entity_id = eav.entity_id JOIN eav_attribute ea ON eav.attribute_id = ea.attribute_id WHERE e.entity_id = @entityid UNION SELECT ea.attribute_id, ea.attribute_code, eav.value AS 'value', 'int' AS 'type' FROM catalog_category_entity e JOIN catalog_category_entity_int eav ON e.entity_id = eav.entity_id JOIN eav_attribute ea ON eav.attribute_id = ea.attribute_id WHERE e.entity_id = @entityid UNION
25. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) SELECT ea.attribute_id, ea.attribute_code, eav.value AS 'value', 'decimal' AS 'type' FROM catalog_category_entity e JOIN catalog_category_entity_ decimal eav ON e.entity_id = eav.entity_id JOIN eav_attribute ea ON eav.attribute_id = ea.attribute_id WHERE e.entity_id = @entityid UNION SELECT ea.attribute_id, ea.attribute_code, eav.value AS 'value', 'datetime' AS 'type' FROM catalog_category_entity e JOIN catalog_category_entity_datetime eav ON e.entity_id = eav.entity_id JOIN eav_attribute ea ON eav.attribute_id = ea.attribute_id WHERE e.entity_id = @entityid UNION SELECT ea.attribute_id, ea.attribute_code, eav.value AS 'value', 'text' AS 'type' FROM catalog_category_entity e JOIN catalog_category_entity_text eav ON e.entity_id = eav.entity_id JOIN eav_attribute ea ON eav.attribute_id = ea.attribute_id WHERE e.entity_id = @entityid
26. Graphs vs. Relational databases @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Having a flexible schema database costs a lot.
27. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
28. Neo4j @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
29. neo4j.org @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
30. neotechnology.com @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
31. Java Based @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
32. Open Source! github.com/neo4j @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
33. Meetups everywhere neo4j.meetup.com @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
34. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver Graphs have… (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
35. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver ( Nodes ) (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
36. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver (Node) { Properties } As many as you want Type: Person! ! Nick: ! geekie Type: ! Person! ! Nick: ! WyriHaximus (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
37. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver (Node) [ Relationships ] As many as you want Type: Person! ! Nick: ! geekie Type: ! Person! ! Nick: ! WyriHaximus (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
38. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver [Relationship { properties } ] As many as you want Nick: ! geekie Nick: ! WyriHaximus knows (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
39. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver Labels Type: Person! ! Nick: ! geekie (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
40. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver Indexes for easy lookup Type: Person! ! Nick: ! geekie (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
41. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver Common named graphs (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
42. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver Common named graphs Local McLaughlin graph (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
43. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver Common named graphs Diamond Butterfly Bull Franklin Tutte Wagner (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
44. Graphs and Neo4j @michellesanver You can make art out of your DB. (Don’t) (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
45. OmNomHub https://github.com/Omnomhub @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
46. OmNomHub @michellesanver Like GitHub but for recipes! (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
47. OmNomHub @michellesanver Fork a recipe (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
48. OmNomHub @michellesanver See all forks (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
49. OmNomHub @michellesanver Join groups (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
50. OmNomHub @michellesanver Search similar recipes (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
51. OmNomHub @michellesanver Have fun! ;-) (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
52. Neo4j Cypher and Browser @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
53. Hang in there (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Kittens) @michellesanver
54. Neo4j Cypher @michellesanver Cypher: SQL for graph databases. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
55. Neo4j Cypher @michellesanver ) (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Parentheses means nodes (Or hugs) (
56. Neo4j Cypher @michellesanver } (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Curly braces means properties {
57. Neo4j Cypher @michellesanver ] (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Square brackets means relationships [
58. Neo4j Browser @michellesanver Makes it easy to visualise and query the data. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
59. Neo4j Browser @michellesanver Let’s learn cypher in the browser! (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
60. DEMO @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
61. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
62. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver As we saw There’s a REST interface! (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
63. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver Neo4jPHP PHP Wrapper for the Neo4j graph database REST interface (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) github.com/jadell/neo4jphp
64. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) require('vendor/autoload.php'); ! $client = new Everyman\Neo4\Client('localhost', 7474); ! print_r($client->getServerInfo());
65. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Use $client to do anything!
66. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Creating a node with the client $recipe = $client->makeNode(); $recipe->setProperty('title', ‘Spaghetti Bolognese') ->setProperty('Description', ‘Italian words') ->setProperty('Ingredients', ‘A lot') ->save(); $recipe->getId();
67. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) You get the idea, it’s well documented! Use $client to do anything, even Cypher queries. https://github.com/jadell/neo4jphp/wiki
68. Neo4j in PHP @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) In OmNomHub we’re using Symfony2 There’s a bundle for that. https://github.com/klaussilveira/neo4j-client-bundle
69. OmNomHub: Beyond Pizza @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
70. OmNomHub: Beyond Pizza @michellesanver Connecting users “You both like” (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
71. OmNomHub: Beyond Pizza @michellesanver Connecting recipes “These have similar ingredients and user base” (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
72. OmNomHub: Beyond Pizza @michellesanver Being smart “You might like” (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
73. OmNomHub: Beyond Pizza @michellesanver Being smart Smart recipe collections! (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
74. OmNomHub: Beyond Pizza @michellesanver Being creepy “Don’t like meat huh?” (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
75. Wrapup @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
76. Wrapup @michellesanver Graphs are everywhere (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
77. Wrapup @michellesanver They make it easy to connect data (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
78. Wrapup @michellesanver Easier to be creepy <3 (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
79. Wrapup @michellesanver OmNomHub will be EPIC :D (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
80. Wrapup @michellesanver Open Source! ! ! ! ! ! https://github.com/Omnomhub (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
81. Resources @michellesanver docs.neo4j.org Graph Databases - Ian Robinson, 
 neo technology gives you the e-book version for free. neo4j.org/learn (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
82. Questions? @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
83. Thank you #phpnw14 @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
84. Pleaaaaase…. @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
85. Give me feedback ! https://joind.in/11807 @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)
86. How would you use it? @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j)