4/13/19

Week #13's Wednesday Evening Training: Keeping up architecture with Neo4J graph database

In this week's Wednesday Evening Training, Fred van Nimwegen and I gave an introduction to graph-oriented databases, and Neo4j in particular. Also, we gave an update on our proceedings in using databases to store and query architecture models.

So what is a graph database? And what is Neo4j?

A graph database is a type of NoSQL database that uses graph theory to store, map and query relationships. This is essentially a collection of nodes and edges. Each node represents an entity and each edge represents a connection or relationship between two nodes. Graph databases are very well suited for analyzing networks, e.g. to mine data from social media.

Read my introduction on Neo4j here: Dealing with architecture models and views using graph databases like Neo4j



Back to our Wednesday Evening Training...

This evening, Fred explained us the basics of graph databases, and us how to query networks using the Cypher Query Language. He also showed us prototypes of extensive Archimate models generated using Neo4j. Using Neo4j and three.js (JavaScript library) 3D views of architecture models (networks) were displayed and filtered, showing all kinds of relations between architecture elements. Quite a useful way of gaining insight in a complex architecture!

Of course there was plenty of opportunity for experimenting. We did some handson labs and did walk throughs of some examples and demo's. You can find these in the resources mentioned below.

We'll continue our research on architecture modeling using Neo4j for sure and in upcoming Wednesday Evening Trainings we'll update our community on our proceedings.




Next Wednesday Evening Training on Neo4j

In our Wednesday Evening Training of April 17th, we will give a workshop on Modeling patterns & solutions in Archimate using Archi. We'll also give an update on how to use Neo4j with Archimate, Archi & architecture models. Yes, we'll continue experimenting with this great platform!

Further study

Do you want to read more on the topics in this post or play around with the technology? Here are some links…

On Graph databases:
What is a Graph Database? https://neo4j.com/developer/graph-database
Graph Databases for Beginners: Why Graph Technology Is the Future: https://neo4j.com/blog/why-graph-databases-are-the-future
Graph database: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_database
Instructive video's on Graph Databases: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSiMhBs48YvXpvmWiUNeThqxOikTH1Zy4

On Neo4j:
Neo4j (GitHub repo): https://github.com/neo4j/neo4j
Neo4j homepage: https://neo4j.com/
Cypher Query Language: https://neo4j.com/developer/cypher-query-language/
Fred's GitHub repo (explanation, examples, in Dutch): https://gitlab.com/fredvn-woensdagavond/neo4j-2018-12
Learn Cypher in minutes: https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/cypher
Neo4j Sandbox (handson labs, built-in guides and sample datasets for popular use cases): https://neo4j.com/sandbox-v2

Examples:
The Graph of Thrones [Season 7 Contest]: https://neo4j.com/blog/graph-of-thrones/
Dataset: Movie Database: https://neo4j.com/developer/movie-database/#_the_dataset
Exploring a UK Open Government Dataset with Neo4j: https://leanjavaengineering.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/exploring-a-uk-open-government-dataset-with-neo4j

On related topics:
4+1 architectural view model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%2B1_architectural_view_model
Database export/import plugin that store Archi models in a central database repository: https://github.com/archi-contribs/database-plugin
threejs (cross-browser JavaScript library and Application Programming Interface (API) used to create and display animated 3D computer graphics): https://threejs.org/

Past Wednesday Evening Trainings on all topics

You 'll find post of previous sessions here: https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?keywords=%23wednesdayeveningtraining

Work @Capgemini?

Do you want to join us? We're always looking for and well-motivated young professionals. Do you have a bachelor or master degree or extensive practical experience? Or do you have a relevant ICT / Informatics training and you have become curious about us? Please send me an mail. Working for us gives you access to all Wednesday Evening Trainings!


No comments:

Post a Comment