Spring Data Neo4j in its 2.x version is a mature implementation of an object graph mapping framework, that both closely integrates with the Spring Framework and also offers unique modeling and querying opportunities by having chosen the property graph data model. This talk presents how several Neo Technology customers already put Spring Data Neo4j into production.
Based on those use-cases we discuss how to implement real-world applications with Spring Data Neo4j and the Spring Framework. First we want to discuss the business problems they had to solve and why a graph database was a good fit for them. After a quick intro to Spring Data Neo4j and Neo4j, we will talk about modeling choices and the benefits and implications of choosing a rich data model. We’ll follow the example domains into code, from annotated domain entities, to the usage of the powerful repository abstractions. Showing how to use Neo4jTemplate to implement some lower level functionality will round off the core library usage. Building on this, we look into the integration aspects, how Spring Data Neo4j can be combined with other Spring projects, like Spring Data MongoDB, Spring Data REST, and Spring Batch.
A quick demonstration shows on how to access Spring Data Neo4j from the (Web)-UI layer. The talk will close of with a glimpse into the future: Neo4j added some very interesting features in its 2.0 release. From node labels, automatic indexes and constraints to a transactional http endpoint for Cypher. These changes make it possible to rethink some aspects of Spring Data Neo4j, like type representation and indexing. But also some bigger ideas for changes ahead like basing the object graph mapping completely on Neo4j’s Cypher Graph Query Language will be touched.