Graph databases speaking the same language after ISO gives GQL the nod
GQL, the query language for graph databases, has been recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), offering users more portability of queries and skills between graph database systems.
The first database query language to be certified by ISO since SQL in 1987, the new standard was developed by a group of database vendors, academics, and tech infrastructure companies.
Carl Olofson, research vice president at analyst IDC, said the industry had been waiting for "quite some time" for a standard graph query language to emerge.
"The formalization of GQL should remove a key barrier to graph database adoption," he said. "Although query languages are sometimes used for import and export, the main function of GQL is in traversing a graph with all its interconnections, finding patterns and locating specific nodes based on their relationships with other nodes. Other query languages, including SQL with graph enhancements, can't really support that completely."
The standard was edited by Stefan Plantikow, Neo4j product manager and standards engineer, and as such the graph database specialist is one of the leading companies in the collaboration. Neo4j also has its own query language called Cypher.
