Seven Databases in Seven Weeks, 2nd Edition

Day 2: REST, Indexes, and Algorithms

Today we’ll start with Neo4j’s REST interface. First, we’ll use the REST interface to create and index nodes and relationships, and to execute full-text search. Then we’ll look at a plugin that lets us execute Cypher queries on the server via REST, freeing our code from the confines of the web console.

Taking a REST

Just like HBase, Mongo, and CouchDB, Neo4j ships with a REST interface. One reason all of these databases support REST is that it allows language-agnostic interactions in a standard connection interface. You can connect to Neo4j—which requires Java to work—from a separate machine that isn’t running Java at all.

Before beginning today’s exercises, check to make sure that the REST server is running ...