Why have developers at places like Facebook and Twitter increasingly turned to graph databases to manage their highly connected big data? The short answer is that graphs offer superior speed and flexibility to get the job done.

It's time you added skills in graph databases to your toolkit. In Practical Neo4j, database expert Greg Jordan guides you through the background and basics of graph databases and gets you quickly up and running with Neo4j, the most prominent graph database on the market today. Jordan walks you through the data modeling stages for projects such as social networks, recommendation engines, and geo-based applications. The book also dives into the configuration steps as well as the language options used to create your Neo4j-backed applications.

Neo4j runs some of the largest connected datasets in the world, and developing with it offers you a fast, proven NoSQL database option. Besides those working for social media, database, and networking companies of all sizes, academics and researchers will find Neo4j a powerful research tool that can help connect large sets of diverse data and provide insights that would otherwise remain hidden. Using Practical Neo4j, you will learn how to harness that power and create elegant solutions that address complex data problems. This book:

• Explains the basics of graph databases
• Demonstrates how to configure and maintain Neo4j
• Shows how to import data into Neo4j from a variety of sources
• Provides a working example of a Neo4j-based application using an array of language of options including Java, .Net, PHP, Python, Spring, and Ruby

As you'll discover, Neo4j offers a blend of simplicity and speed while allowing data relationships to maintain first-class status. That's one reason among many that such a wide range of industries and fields have turned to graph databases to analyze deep, dense relationships. After reading this book, you'll have a potent, elegant tool you can use to develop projects profitably and improve your career options.