Using Neo4j with Java
Learn to connect Java applications to Neo4j using the official Java driver. Execute Cypher, map results to Java objects, and manage transactions.
In this 1-hour course, you will learn
Neo4j and Java connect through the official Neo4j Java driver, and this course teaches you how to use it in your own applications. You will add the driver to a project, connect to a Neo4j database, execute 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. queries, map results to Java objects, and apply the Full definition for transaction (opens in a new tab)A unit of work that either succeeds in full or leaves no trace. and error handling 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. that production systems rely on.
Java remains one of the most common languages for building services on top of Neo4j, from enterprise APIs to data-intensive backend systems. The driver is the foundation for all of them: every higher-level integration, including Spring Data Neo4j, ultimately speaks to the database the same way you will in this course. Understanding the driver directly gives you full control over your queries and a clear picture of what any framework is doing on your behalf.
Driver Life Cycle
Understand how the Neo4j Java driver is created, reused across requests, and closed safely to avoid connection leaks in long-running applications.
Installing and Instantiation
Configure the Java driver as a Maven or Gradle dependency and instantiate a verified driver instance connected to your Neo4j database.
Read and Write Transactions
Write explicit read and write transaction functions using managed sessions to execute Cypher queries and handle retries automatically.
Best Practices
Apply production-ready patterns including connection pooling, session scoping, parameter binding, and result mapping to Java objects.
3 modules, 1 hour.
Who this course is for
Java developers who want to read and write Neo4j data from application code — whether you are building a REST API that serves graph data, integrating Neo4j into an existing service, or evaluating how a graph database fits into your architecture. You should have a working knowledge of Java and a build tool such as Maven or Gradle, and be comfortable with the basics of Neo4j and 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. first — the prerequisite courses are listed beside this overview. No previous experience with the driver is expected; the course begins with project setup and introduces each concept in sequence.
What you'll build and do
This is a hands-on course. You will work through short lessons and prove each skill in challenges that verify your code against a live Neo4j database loaded with a movie recommendations dataset. You will set up a project, create a driver instance with a
neo4j+s://connection string, execute 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 with parameters, and map query results directly to Java objects so your application works with typed domain classes rather than raw records.In the later modules you will handle Neo4j's graph, temporal, and spatial values in Java, then Full definition for write transaction (opens in a new tab)A transaction that changes data, and so is routed to the leader of a cluster. functions the driver retries automatically after transient failures, and error handling code that inspects error codes to decide when to retry, when to surface an error, and when to fail fast. By the end you will have a small but complete codebase that connects, queries, maps, and recovers from failure — a template you can carry directly into your own services.
Where to go next
If you build with Spring, continue to Building Neo4j Applications with Spring Data, which layers repositories, entity mapping, and derived queries on top of the same driver you now understand. To strengthen your 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., Intermediate Cypher Queries covers filtering, Full definition for aggregation (opens in a new tab)Grouping rows and computing a value over each group. In Cypher the grouping keys are whatever expressions in the same clause are not aggregated., and performance in depth, and Graph Data Modeling Fundamentals shows you how to design a model that keeps those queries simple and fast. This course also prepares you for the Neo4j Certified Professional exam, which validates your knowledge of Neo4j fundamentals, Cypher, and the application 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. you practice here.