Graph databases are certainly all the rage currently. They have outgrown every other type of database in popularity since 2013. Developers, data scientists, and IT pros are beginning to explore the potential of graph databases to solve new classes of big data analytic and transaction challenges. This interesting news came to us from datanami in their article, “5 Factors Driving the Graph Database Explosion.”

There are several reasons why graph databases are surging in popularity now. One is about relationships. As organizations accumulate large stockpiles of data, it is important to have knowledge about what is in it. There are many ways to query data, but one of the most interesting approaches involves seeing how various pieces of data are connected, and what relationships exist among the data. Graph databases are especially good at this.

Another reason graph databases are performing so well is perspective. Semantic and RDF technologies make it easier to isolate connections among entities from different classes. When data volumes get large, it is preferable to hold data of this kind in a graphical structure because it is semantically meaningful to do so.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.