Path-based Algebraic Foundations of Graph Query Languages

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Angles, Renzo, Bonifati, Angela, García, Roberto, Vrgoč, Domagoj
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Angles, Renzo
Bonifati, Angela
García, Roberto
Vrgoč, Domagoj
author_facet Angles, Renzo
Bonifati, Angela
García, Roberto
Vrgoč, Domagoj
contents Graph databases are gaining momentum thanks to the flexibility and expressiveness of their data models and query languages. A standardization activity driven by the ISO/IEC standardization body is also ongoing and has already conducted to the specification of the first versions of two standard graph query languages, namely SQL/PGQ and GQL, respectively in 2023 and 2024. Apart from the standards, there exists a panoply of concrete graph query languages provided by current graph database systems, each offering different query features. A common limitation of current graph query engines is the absence of an algebraic approach for evaluating path queries. To address this, we introduce an abstract algebra for evaluating path queries, allowing paths to be treated as first-class entities within the query processing pipeline. We demonstrate that our algebra can express a core fragment of path queries defined in GQL and SQL/PGQ, thereby serving as a formal framework for studying both standards and supporting their implementation in current graph database systems. We also show that evaluation trees for path algebra expressions can function as logical plans for evaluating path queries and enable the application of query optimization techniques. Our algebraic framework has the potential to act as a lingua franca for path query evaluation, enabling different implementations to be expressed and compared.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_04823
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Path-based Algebraic Foundations of Graph Query Languages
Angles, Renzo
Bonifati, Angela
García, Roberto
Vrgoč, Domagoj
Databases
Graph databases are gaining momentum thanks to the flexibility and expressiveness of their data models and query languages. A standardization activity driven by the ISO/IEC standardization body is also ongoing and has already conducted to the specification of the first versions of two standard graph query languages, namely SQL/PGQ and GQL, respectively in 2023 and 2024. Apart from the standards, there exists a panoply of concrete graph query languages provided by current graph database systems, each offering different query features. A common limitation of current graph query engines is the absence of an algebraic approach for evaluating path queries. To address this, we introduce an abstract algebra for evaluating path queries, allowing paths to be treated as first-class entities within the query processing pipeline. We demonstrate that our algebra can express a core fragment of path queries defined in GQL and SQL/PGQ, thereby serving as a formal framework for studying both standards and supporting their implementation in current graph database systems. We also show that evaluation trees for path algebra expressions can function as logical plans for evaluating path queries and enable the application of query optimization techniques. Our algebraic framework has the potential to act as a lingua franca for path query evaluation, enabling different implementations to be expressed and compared.
title Path-based Algebraic Foundations of Graph Query Languages
topic Databases
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.04823