graph database

Definitions

1. A database that uses graph structures — nodes, edges, and properties — to store and query highly connected data. Graph databases excel at relationship-heavy queries like social networks, fraud detection, and recommendation engines, where traditional relational joins would require dozens of expensive table lookups.

   In plain English: A database built around relationships between things — perfect for social networks or fraud detection where you need to trace connections between people or entities.

   Example: Finding all fraud rings within three degrees of a flagged account takes milliseconds in the graph database but would be a nightmare of recursive CTEs in PostgreSQL.

Related Terms

• time-series database
• column store
• data lake
• Isolation Level
• Partition Key
• Row-Level Security
• Transaction Log