Neo4j Fundamentals
Discover how graph databases work and get hands-on with Neo4j: learn graph theory, nodes, relationships, and write your first Cypher queries.
In this 1-hour course, you will learn
Neo4j Fundamentals is a beginner course that introduces graph databases and the principles that make Neo4j work. In around 60 minutes you will learn graph theory, the elements of a graph database, how to tell when Neo4j is the right tool, and the basics of Full definition for Cypher (opens in a new tab)Neo4j's implementation of GQL, the ISO standard query language for graph databases. It is declarative: you describe the pattern to find, and the database decides how to find it. for reading and writing data.
Graphs describe the connected data that sits behind recommendations, fraud detection, network management, and knowledge graphs. Instead of splitting that data across rows and join tables, a graph stores the Full definition for relationship (opens in a new tab)A named, directed connection between two nodes. Every relationship has a type, a start node and an end node. directly, so questions about how things connect become fast and natural to ask. This course gives you the vocabulary and the hands-on practice to start working with graphs, and it sets the foundation for everything else you will learn on GraphAcademy.
Graph Theory
Understand the mathematical foundations of graph databases, including vertices, edges, and how connected data models outperform relational tables for relationship-heavy queries.
Graph Structures
Learn to identify nodes, relationships, properties, and labels, and understand how these building blocks combine to represent real-world domains in a graph.
Elements of a Graph Database
Explore how Neo4j stores and indexes data natively as a graph, and understand what distinguishes a graph database from a document store or relational database.
Reading and Writing Data in Neo4j
Write Cypher queries to create nodes and relationships, match existing data, and update or delete records in a live Neo4j database.
Cypher Patterns
Build graph pattern expressions using ASCII-art syntax to traverse relationships, filter results by property, and return structured data from connected nodes.
3 modules, 1 hour.
Who this course is for
This course is for anyone new to graph databases. Developers, data engineers, data analysts, architects, and technical managers all take this as their starting point, but you do not need any of those titles to follow along. There are no prerequisites: you need no prior experience with Neo4j, no background in graph theory, and no coding experience, because every concept is introduced from first principles with examples drawn from data you already understand. If you have worked with relational databases before, you will find useful points of comparison throughout, but they are not required to make sense of the material.
What you will do
This is a practical course, not a lecture. You will explore a real Neo4j database in the browser, run queries, and see the results as both tables and visual graphs so you can watch the structure of your data take shape.
Along the way you will write your first Full definition for Cypher (opens in a new tab)Neo4j's implementation of GQL, the ISO standard query language for graph databases. It is declarative: you describe the pattern to find, and the database decides how to find it. statements, using them to read data by matching Full definition for pattern (opens in a new tab)A graph structure written in Cypher, such as a node joined to another node by a relationship. of Full definition for node (opens in a new tab)A vertex in a graph. In a property graph it can carry labels and properties. and Full definition for relationship (opens in a new tab)A named, directed connection between two nodes. Every relationship has a type, a start node and an end node. and to create new data by adding nodes, relationships, and Full definition for property (opens in a new tab)A named value stored on a node or a relationship.. You will also build a small Full definition for data model (opens in a new tab)The labels, relationship types and properties chosen to represent a domain. of your own, deciding what should be a node, what should be a relationship, and what belongs as a property. By the end you will have queried data, changed data, and modelled data, which is the core loop you repeat in every graph project, and you will know how to run Neo4j yourself so you can keep practising after the course ends.
Where to go next
Once you have completed Neo4j Fundamentals, the natural next step is Cypher Fundamentals, which takes the Full definition for Cypher (opens in a new tab)Neo4j's implementation of GQL, the ISO standard query language for graph databases. It is declarative: you describe the pattern to find, and the database decides how to find it. basics you learned here and covers reading and writing data in far more depth. From there, Graph Data Modeling Fundamentals teaches you how to design a graph model that answers your questions efficiently, and Importing Data Fundamentals shows you how to load data into Neo4j from external sources such as CSV files. This course is also the first step toward the Neo4j Certified Professional certification, a credential that demonstrates your Neo4j skills.
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