SQL Graph Database Query Language

[Ryan Casey MBA]

Microsoft documentation states that SQL Graph Database extensions use uses an ASCII-art type of syntax for the query language. Cypher is an ASCII-art type of syntax query language. Am I correct to say that Microsoft SQL Graph Database uses Cypher as a query language like Neo4j? Or is there still differences even though both are an ASCII-art type of syntax query language?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Ryan and welcome to the TechCommunity forums

> Am I correct to say that Microsoft SQL Graph Database uses Cypher as a que

I would not say so.

Cypher is used by Neo4j and it not supported in SQL Server exactly as it is like in Neo4j.

There is a lot of similarity since both have the same base using ASCII-art type of syntax query language. For simple queries the text might seems the same but when you go deeper to complex query then you will find that SQL Server does not uses the exact same format as Neo4j (Maybe it will in the future)

Check out the following document. It a great post, which I highly recommend to read from start to end! But if you are lazy then just jump to the "Study Cases," where you can see the differences for complex queries (for example when using CTE).

https://medium.com/swlh/microsoft-sql-servers-graph-an-attempt-that-fell-short-for-now-a4888245c483

With that said, if you are expert in Cypher then you can work with Graph queries on SQL Server very fast.

[#3]

Thanks for the reply. I will read the entire article this week. Thanks for the link to the article. I find it very difficult to find good articles and whitepapers on this topic and Microsoft's documentation is not very in depth.

[#4]

You are most welcome @Ryan Casey MBA 

> Microsoft's documentation is not very in depth.

I agree. There is a lot not documented regarding the internals and what we have under the scenes, but this is where blogs come in place. If you want t change a claim like "difficult to find good articles" then you can be part of the solution  You can be the one who start such article. In fact, if you want to write a post on the topic, then I would love to help you publish it in Microsoft site. SQL Server implementation of "ASCII-art type of syntax query language" is a great topic for an article. We are looking for authors in the Microsoft TechNet Wiki, and if you want join and become an author then I can guide you. Just say the word