4 ms·

I understand the desire to distance oneself from the term graph database, but this is a graph database.

JanSt 9y ago
It’s definetly not a graph database, if it‘s based on postgresql - no index free adjecency as provided by real graphdbs like neo4j
eigen-vector 9y ago
I don't think their intent is to distance themselves from the term. Right there in the post, they're mentioning that the object-relational universe they're talking about is essentially a property graph. However, it doesn't seem like it's built to mirror a traditional graph database.
- andrioni 9y ago
  It seems more similar in spirit to triplestores, which are pretty neat all things considered. It also reminds me a lot of Datomic, but without the Clojure-ness and immutability.
martin-adams 9y ago
I agree. I don’t really know why it’s not considered a graph database. My understanding is that graph databases are about how relationships between data are represented, not that it’s schemaless.
- riku_iki 9y ago
  Graph database operates on Nodes and Edges between Nodes. Object Database operates on objects with fields. EdgeDB looks more like object database.
johnhenry 9y ago
> EdgeDB is not a graph database: the data is stored and queried using relational database techniques and requires a strict schema. I feel like they make a pretty good case as to why this isn't a graph database, though I wonder if you might expand on your reasoning?
rankam 9y ago
Why do you believe there should be a desire to distance oneself from a graph database? Graph databases are great when used correctly.
- 1st1 9y ago
  We don't want to distance EdgeDB from graph databases. We just want to clearly show the difference between EdgeDB and, for example, neo4j.
jessep 9y ago
It seems like a _strongly typed_ graph database, which is significant. The lack of enforced typing has made me scared of graph databases in the past, so this feels significant to me as a potential user. Granted, maybe there are strongly typed graph databases, and I just don't know about them, or misinterpreted what I've read about existing graph databases.
threepipeproblm 9y ago
If you are basing this on the idea that something that can store a graph is a graph database, I'm not sure that definition really holds up. It has been argued -- for example by Neo4j, which is one of the leading graph databases -- that index-free adjacency is an essential feature for any real graph database, or as they put it, "Index-free adjacency is the key differentiatior of native graph processing." https://neo4j.com/blog/why-graph-databases-are-the-future/ https://neo4j.com/blog/why-graph-databases-are-the-future/ By my reading, this system doesn't feature index-free adjacency as it uses relational tables as the substrate for edges. Thus EdgeDB won't be especially well suited type of graph traversals and queries that people actually select graph databases for. Which seems like a compelling reason not to identify it as a graph database.

It’s definetly not a graph database, if it‘s based on postgresql - no index free adjecency as provided by real graphdbs like neo4j

eigen-vector 9y ago

I don't think their intent is to distance themselves from the term. Right there in the post, they're mentioning that the object-relational universe they're talking about is essentially a property graph. However, it doesn't seem like it's built to mirror a traditional graph database.

andrioni 9y ago
It seems more similar in spirit to triplestores, which are pretty neat all things considered. It also reminds me a lot of Datomic, but without the Clojure-ness and immutability.

martin-adams 9y ago

I agree. I don’t really know why it’s not considered a graph database. My understanding is that graph databases are about how relationships between data are represented, not that it’s schemaless.

riku_iki 9y ago
Graph database operates on Nodes and Edges between Nodes. Object Database operates on objects with fields. EdgeDB looks more like object database.

johnhenry 9y ago

> EdgeDB is not a graph database: the data is stored and queried using relational database techniques and requires a strict schema. I feel like they make a pretty good case as to why this isn't a graph database, though I wonder if you might expand on your reasoning?

rankam 9y ago

Why do you believe there should be a desire to distance oneself from a graph database? Graph databases are great when used correctly.

1st1 9y ago
We don't want to distance EdgeDB from graph databases. We just want to clearly show the difference between EdgeDB and, for example, neo4j.

jessep 9y ago

It seems like a _strongly typed_ graph database, which is significant. The lack of enforced typing has made me scared of graph databases in the past, so this feels significant to me as a potential user. Granted, maybe there are strongly typed graph databases, and I just don't know about them, or misinterpreted what I've read about existing graph databases.

threepipeproblm 9y ago

If you are basing this on the idea that something that can store a graph is a graph database, I'm not sure that definition really holds up. It has been argued -- for example by Neo4j, which is one of the leading graph databases -- that index-free adjacency is an essential feature for any real graph database, or as they put it, "Index-free adjacency is the key differentiatior of native graph processing." https://neo4j.com/blog/why-graph-databases-are-the-future/ https://neo4j.com/blog/why-graph-databases-are-the-future/ By my reading, this system doesn't feature index-free adjacency as it uses relational tables as the substrate for edges. Thus EdgeDB won't be especially well suited type of graph traversals and queries that people actually select graph databases for. Which seems like a compelling reason not to identify it as a graph database.