Neo4j is AWESOME!

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. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4J is AWESOME!
2. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver
3. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver WIIIIIIIE \o/ “Learn the most by sharing your knowledge with others” - @coderabbi
4. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver This talk is entry-level.
5. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver
6. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver
7. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Michelle Sanver
8. @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Michelle Sanver Co-President of PHPWomen
9. @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Michelle Sanver Accent(s)!?
10. @michellesanver (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) Michelle Sanver
11. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver I’m a backend developer.
12. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Setting expectations
13. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver How I got into Neo4j
14. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/
15. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/ Graph theory has been studied since Leonard Euler’s Bridges 1736
16. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/ Body Text
17. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/
18. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/ Graphs are really just connected data… They are everywhere
19. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/
20. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/ It’s modern.
21. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/ Facebook open graph
22. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs \o/ A graph is an easy way to visualise connected data. Michelle Graphs likes
23. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Relational question: Average age of everyone in this list? Graph question: Who knows me from third parties?
24. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Relational databases have tables Recipes
25. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Tables have relationships Recipes Groups
26. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Which causes a join table… Recipes Groups RecipeToGroup
27. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases You query via the table Recipes Groups RecipeToGroup
28. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Imagine having *actual* relations Pasta group Spaghetti Italian group
29. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Recipes Groups RecipeToGroup Pasta group Spaghetti Italian group
30. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Relational databases have a structure
31. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Neo4j has no schema
32. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases A big query. The EAV model.
33. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases 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
34. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases 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 selecting 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
35. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Having a flexible schema database costs a lot.
36. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases For modern complex data…
37. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs vs. Relational databases Would you still pick a relational structure?
38. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j
39. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver neo4j.org
40. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver neotechnology.com
41. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Java Based
42. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Open Source! github.com/neo4j
43. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Meetups everywhere neo4j.meetup.com
44. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j Graphs have…
45. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j ( Nodes )
46. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j (Node) { Properties } As many as you want Type: Person Nick: geekie Type: Person Nick: WyriHaximus
47. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j (Node) [ Relationships ] As many as you want Type: Person Nick: geekie Type: Person Nick: WyriHaximus
48. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j Nick: geekie Nick: WyriHaximus knows (Node) [ Relationships ] As many as you want
49. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j Labels Type: Person Nick: geekie
50. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j Indexes for easy lookup
51. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j Common named graphs
52. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j Common named graphs Local McLaughlin graph
53. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j Common named graphs Diamond Butterfly Bull Franklin Tutte Wagner
54. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Graphs and Neo4j You can make art out of your DB. (Don’t)
55. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub
56. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub Like GitHub but for recipes!
57. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub Fork a recipe
58. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub See all forks
59. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub Join groups
60. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub Search similar recipes
61. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub Honestly… It’s just a pet project.
62. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j architecture
63. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j architecture Disks File System Cache Record Files Object Cache Cypher Core API Traversal API Transaction Management Transaction Log
64. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Hang in there
65. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j architecture: Traversals
66. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Traversals Pathexpanders: Define what to traverse
67. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Traversals Order: Depth-first or breadth-first.
68. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Traversals Uniqueness : Visit once.
69. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Traversals Evaluator : Should I stay or should I go?
70. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Traversals Starting nodes: And so it begins.
71. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j architecture: Cypher and Browser
72. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Cypher Cypher: SQL for graph databases.
73. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Cypher ) Parentheses means nodes (Or hugs) (
74. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Cypher } Curly braces means properties {
75. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Cypher ] Square brackets means relationships [
76. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Browser Makes it easy to visualise and query the data.
77. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Browser Let’s learn cypher in the browser!
78. DEMO: Cypher and Browser (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver
79. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j architecture Neostore File Storage
80. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neostore Several different store files
81. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neostore Each store has specific data
82. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neostore Nodes neostore.nodestore.db 9 bytes
83. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neostore Nodes in-use key: 1 byte
84. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neostore Fixed size == FAST
85. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neostore Relationships neostore.relationshipstore.db 33 bytes
86. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neostore Properties neostore.propertystore.db neostore.propertystore.db.index neostore.propertystore.db.strings neostore.propertystore.db.arrays
87. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Hardware matters!
88. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Caching in memory, or filesystem
89. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP
90. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP As we saw There’s a REST interface!
91. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP Neo4jPHP PHP Wrapper for the Neo4j graph database REST interface github.com/jadell/neo4jphp
92. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP require('vendor/autoload.php'); $client = new Everyman\Neo4\Client('localhost', 7474); print_r($client->getServerInfo());
93. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP Use $client to do anything!
94. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP 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();
95. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP You get the idea, it’s well documented! Use $client to do anything, even Cypher queries. https://github.com/jadell/neo4jphp/wiki
96. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Neo4j in PHP In OmNomHub we’re using Symfony2 There’s a bundle for that. https://github.com/klaussilveira/neo4j-client-bundle
97. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub: The Future
98. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub: The Future Connecting users “You both like”
99. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub: The Future Connecting recipes “These have similar ingredients and user base”
100. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub: The Future Being smart “You might like”
101. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub: The Future Being smart Smart recipe collections!
102. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver OmNomHub: The Future Being creepy “Don’t like meat huh?”
103. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Wrapup
104. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Wrapup Graphs are everywhere
105. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Wrapup They make it easy to connect data
106. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Wrapup Easier to be creepy <3
107. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Wrapup OmNomHub will be EPIC :D
108. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Wrapup Open Source! https://github.com/Omnomhub
109. Resources (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver docs.neo4j.org Graph Databases - Ian Robinson, 
 neo technology gives you the e-book version for free. neo4j.org/learn
110. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Thank you!
111. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver Questions?
112. (Michelle)-[:LOVES]->(Neo4j) @michellesanver How would you use it?