Using Graph Databases in Popular Open Source CMSs

Traditionally CMSs use SQL databases that are really fast when you need all the information stored together in a record row, but are a bad fit when you need to search for relationship patterns that are not already stored together in your database. A significant performance penalty is incurred for every additional table that needs to be joined for a query. That is why SQL databases are notoriously bad at deducting relationships from datasets. Graph databases, however, are really good at this task.

In a talk we did at FOSDEM ‘17, Tamás Demeter-Haludka and I discuss potential application areas of graph databases in existing open source CMSs like Drupal.

We believe graph databases could make a big difference when used in key areas where traditionally CMSs would fail:

We've created a basic integration that makes it possible for non-developers to work with Neo4j. Combined with Drupal’s content modelling capabilities we believe it could be a powerful tool for people to explore graph databases using a GUI. There is also a case to be made for the use of graph databases in the Drupal ecosystem: sites that already use Drupal could benefit from its capabilities.

What are the possibilities if you combine graph databases with the tools and functionalities CMSs already provide?

For the video recording, click here.

Table of content:

• Introduction (0:00)
• Module demo (5:18)
• CMSs as a GUI for a graph database (9:40)
• Q&A (19:40)

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