ISO/IEC 39075:2024 Specification

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Like SQL for relational databases, GQL provides a vendor-neutral, standardized language for graph data manipulation and querying. Geode follows the ISO/IEC 39075:2024 compliance — see the conformance profile for scope and diagnostics. <h3 id="understanding-the-gql-standard" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Understanding the GQL Standard <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="understanding-the-gql-standard" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Understanding the GQL Standard"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="what-is-isoiec-390752024" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> What is ISO/IEC 39075:2024? <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="what-is-isoiec-390752024" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: What is ISO/IEC 39075:2024?"> Share link </button> </h4>ISO/IEC 39075:2024 is the first international standard for graph database query language, published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It defines: <ul> <li>Syntax: How queries are written</li> <li>Semantics: What queries mean</li> <li>Data Model: Property graph structure</li> <li>Type System: Data types and their operations</li> <li>Conformance: Requirements for compliant implementations</li> </ul> <h4 id="why-standards-matter" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Why Standards Matter <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="why-standards-matter" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Why Standards Matter"> Share link </button> </h4>Portability: Write queries once, run on any GQL-compliant database Longevity: Standards evolve through consensus, protecting long-term investments Interoperability: Tools, libraries, and skills transfer across implementations No Vendor Lock-In: Avoid proprietary language dependencies Quality: Rigorously specified behavior reduces ambiguity <h4 id="historical-context" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Historical Context <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="historical-context" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Historical Context"> Share link </button> </h4>GQL evolved from practical experience with graph query languages: <ul> <li>2000s: Neo4j creates Cypher (proprietary)</li> <li>2010s: Apache TinkerPop develops Gremlin (procedural)</li> <li>2016: ISO begins GQL standardization process</li> <li>2019: First GQL working drafts</li> <li>2024: ISO/IEC 39075:2024 published</li> </ul> GQL incorporates best practices from Cypher, SPARQL, SQL, and other predecessors while addressing their limitations. <h3 id="core-language-features" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Core Language Features <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="core-language-features" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Core Language Features"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="pattern-matching" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Pattern Matching <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="pattern-matching" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Pattern Matching"> Share link </button> </h4>GQL’s most powerful feature is declarative pattern matching using visual graph patterns: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Match pattern: nodes and relationships MATCH (p:Person)-[:KNOWS]->(friend:Person) WHERE p.name = 'Alice' RETURN friend.name; -- Multi-hop patterns MATCH (a:Person)-[:KNOWS*2..4]->(distant) WHERE a.city = 'San Francisco' RETURN distant.name, distant.city; -- Complex patterns with multiple relationships MATCH (author:Person)-[:WROTE]->(paper:Paper)-[:CITES]->(cited:Paper) WHERE paper.year >= 2020 RETURN author.name, count(cited) AS citation_count ORDER BY citation_count DESC; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="path-queries" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Path Queries <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="path-queries" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Path Queries"> Share link </button> </h4>Standard path operations for finding routes through graphs: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Shortest path MATCH path = SHORTEST (a:Person {name: 'Alice'}) -[:KNOWS*]-> (b:Person {name: 'Bob'}) RETURN path, length(path) AS hops; -- All shortest paths MATCH paths = ALL SHORTEST (a:City {name: 'NYC'}) -[:FLIGHT*]-> (b:City {name: 'LAX'}) RETURN paths, reduce(cost = 0, r IN relationships(paths) | cost + r.price) AS total_cost; -- K shortest paths MATCH paths = K SHORTEST 5 (a:Location)-[:ROUTE*]->(b:Location) WHERE a.id = $start AND b.id = $end RETURN paths, reduce(dist = 0, r IN relationships(paths) | dist + r.distance) AS distance ORDER BY distance; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="data-manipulation" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Data Manipulation <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="data-manipulation" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Data Manipulation"> Share link </button> </h4>Standard CRUD operations: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- INSERT: Create nodes and relationships INSERT (p:Person {name: 'Alice', age: 30, city: 'SF'}); INSERT (a:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[:KNOWS {since: DATE '2020-01-15'}]->(b:Person {name: 'Bob'}); -- SET: Update properties MATCH (p:Person {name: 'Alice'}) SET p.age = 31, p.last_updated = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP; -- DELETE: Remove nodes or relationships MATCH (p:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[r:KNOWS]->(b:Person {name: 'Bob'}) DELETE r; MATCH (p:Person {name: 'Bob'}) DELETE p; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="aggregations" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Aggregations <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="aggregations" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Aggregations"> Share link </button> </h4>Standard aggregate functions: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Basic aggregations MATCH (p:Product) RETURN count(p) AS total_products, avg(p.price) AS average_price, sum(p.stock) AS total_inventory, min(p.price) AS cheapest, max(p.price) AS most_expensive; -- GROUP BY MATCH (p:Product) RETURN p.category, count(p) AS count, avg(p.price) AS avg_price GROUP BY p.category ORDER BY count DESC; -- HAVING clause MATCH (u:User)-[:PURCHASED]->(p:Product) WITH p, count(u) AS buyers WHERE buyers > 100 RETURN p.name, buyers ORDER BY buyers DESC; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="temporal-data-types" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Temporal Data Types <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="temporal-data-types" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Temporal Data Types"> Share link </button> </h4>Native support for dates, times, and durations: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Temporal literals INSERT (event:Event { name: 'Conference', start: TIMESTAMP '2024-06-15 09:00:00-07:00', end: TIMESTAMP '2024-06-15 17:00:00-07:00', duration: DURATION 'PT8H', date: DATE '2024-06-15', time: TIME '09:00:00' }); -- Temporal operations MATCH (e:Event) WHERE e.start >= CURRENT_TIMESTAMP AND e.start <= CURRENT_TIMESTAMP + DURATION 'P30D' RETURN e.name, e.start; -- Extract temporal components MATCH (s:Sale) RETURN extract(year from s.timestamp) AS year, extract(month from s.timestamp) AS month, extract(day from s.timestamp) AS day GROUP BY year, month, day; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="type-system" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Type System <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="type-system" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Type System"> Share link </button> </h4>GQL defines a rich type system: Primitive Types: <ul> <li><code>BOOLEAN</code>: true or false</li> <li><code>INTEGER</code>: Whole numbers</li> <li><code>FLOAT</code>: Floating-point numbers</li> <li><code>STRING</code>: Text</li> <li><code>BYTES</code>: Binary data</li> </ul> Temporal Types: <ul> <li><code>DATE</code>: Calendar dates (YYYY-MM-DD)</li> <li><code>TIME</code>: Time of day with optional timezone</li> <li><code>TIMESTAMP</code>: Point in time</li> <li><code>DURATION</code>: Time intervals (ISO 8601 format)</li> </ul> Structured Types: <ul> <li><code>LIST<T></code>: Ordered collection</li> <li><code>MAP<K, V></code>: Key-value mappings</li> <li><code>RECORD</code>: Named fields</li> </ul> Special Types: <ul> <li><code>NULL</code>: Absence of value</li> <li><code>PATH</code>: Graph path</li> <li><code>NODE</code>: Graph node</li> <li><code>RELATIONSHIP</code>: Graph relationship</li> </ul> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Type examples INSERT (p:Product { id: 'prod_123', -- STRING name: 'Laptop', -- STRING price: 1299.99, -- FLOAT stock: 47, -- INTEGER available: true, -- BOOLEAN released: DATE '2024-03-15', -- DATE updated: CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, -- TIMESTAMP tags: ['electronics', 'portable'], -- LIST<STRING> specs: {cpu: 'i9', ram: '32GB'} -- MAP<STRING, STRING> }); </code></pre></div> <h3 id="syntax-and-semantics" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Syntax and Semantics <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="syntax-and-semantics" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Syntax and Semantics"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="query-structure" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Query Structure <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="query-structure" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Query Structure"> Share link </button> </h4>GQL queries consist of clauses that can be combined: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Linear composition MATCH (p:Person) WHERE p.age > 30 RETURN p.name, p.city ORDER BY p.age DESC LIMIT 10; -- Subqueries MATCH (company:Company) WHERE EXISTS { MATCH (company)<-[:WORKS_AT]-(emp:Employee) WHERE emp.salary > 150000 } RETURN company.name; -- CALL for procedures MATCH (p:Person) CALL graph.pagerank(p, 'KNOWS') AS pr RETURN p.name, pr.score ORDER BY pr.score DESC LIMIT 20; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="expression-language" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Expression Language <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="expression-language" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Expression Language"> Share link </button> </h4>Rich expression support: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Arithmetic MATCH (p:Product) RETURN p.price * 1.08 AS price_with_tax, p.price * 0.8 AS discounted_price; -- String operations MATCH (p:Person) WHERE p.email LIKE '%@example.com' RETURN upper(p.name), lower(p.email); -- Boolean logic MATCH (p:Product) WHERE (p.category = 'Electronics' AND p.price < 500) OR (p.category = 'Books' AND p.rating >= 4.5) RETURN p.name; -- NULL handling MATCH (p:Person) RETURN p.name, coalesce(p.email, 'no email') AS email; -- List operations MATCH (p:Person) WHERE 'engineer' IN p.roles RETURN p.name, size(p.roles) AS role_count; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="pattern-constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Pattern Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="pattern-constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Pattern Constraints"> Share link </button> </h4>Powerful WHERE clause constraints: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Property filters MATCH (p:Person) WHERE p.age >= 30 AND p.age <= 40 AND p.city IN ['SF', 'NYC', 'Austin'] RETURN p.name; -- Relationship filters MATCH (a:Person)-[r:KNOWS]->(b:Person) WHERE r.since >= DATE '2020-01-01' AND r.strength > 0.7 RETURN a.name, b.name; -- Path constraints (filter on intermediate nodes) MATCH path = (a:Person)-[:KNOWS*2..5 (r, n | n.active = true)]->(b:Person) WHERE a.name = 'Alice' RETURN path; -- Existential subqueries MATCH (p:Product) WHERE EXISTS { MATCH (p)<-[:PURCHASED]-(u:User) WHERE u.premium = true } RETURN p.name; </code></pre></div> <h3 id="transaction-model" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Transaction Model <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="transaction-model" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Transaction Model"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="acid-properties" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> ACID Properties <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="acid-properties" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: ACID Properties"> Share link </button> </h4>GQL specifies full ACID transaction semantics: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Explicit transaction BEGIN TRANSACTION; INSERT (order:Order {id: 'o123', total: 99.99}); MATCH (customer:Customer {id: 'c456'}) INSERT (customer)-[:PLACED]->(order); -- Atomic: all succeed or all fail COMMIT; -- Or rollback ROLLBACK; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="isolation-levels" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Isolation Levels <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="isolation-levels" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Isolation Levels"> Share link </button> </h4>Standard SQL isolation levels: <ul> <li>READ UNCOMMITTED</li> <li>READ COMMITTED (default)</li> <li>REPEATABLE READ</li> <li>SERIALIZABLE</li> </ul> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Set isolation level SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE; BEGIN TRANSACTION; -- Queries here run with SERIALIZABLE isolation COMMIT; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="savepoints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Savepoints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="savepoints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Savepoints"> Share link </button> </h4>Partial rollback capability: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">BEGIN TRANSACTION; INSERT (u:User {name: 'Alice'}); SAVEPOINT sp1; -- Risky operation INSERT (u:User {email: 'invalid'}); -- Rollback to savepoint ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT sp1; -- Continue transaction INSERT (u:User {name: 'Bob'}); COMMIT; </code></pre></div> <h3 id="schema-and-constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Schema and Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="schema-and-constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Schema and Constraints"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="schema-definition" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Schema Definition <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="schema-definition" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Schema Definition"> Share link </button> </h4>Optional schema definition for type safety: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Define node type CREATE NODE TYPE Person ( id STRING NOT NULL, name STRING NOT NULL, age INTEGER, email STRING ); -- Define relationship type CREATE RELATIONSHIP TYPE KNOWS ( since DATE NOT NULL, strength FLOAT CHECK (strength >= 0 AND strength <= 1) ); </code></pre></div> <h4 id="constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Constraints"> Share link </button> </h4>Data integrity enforcement: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Unique constraint CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON User(email) UNIQUE; -- Existence constraint CREATE CONSTRAINT user_name_required ON User REQUIRE name; -- Check constraint CREATE CONSTRAINT product_price_positive ON Product CHECK (price > 0); -- Composite unique constraint CREATE CONSTRAINT person_name_dob_unique ON Person(name, date_of_birth) UNIQUE; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4>Performance optimization: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Single-column index CREATE INDEX person_name ON Person(name); -- Composite index CREATE INDEX product_category_price ON Product(category, price); -- Full-text index CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX product_search ON Product(name, description); </code></pre></div> <h3 id="conformance-levels" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Conformance Levels <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="conformance-levels" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Conformance Levels"> Share link </button> </h3>The GQL standard defines conformance requirements: <h4 id="core-gql" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Core GQL <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="core-gql" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Core GQL"> Share link </button> </h4>Minimum required features: <ul> <li>Pattern matching (MATCH)</li> <li>Basic CRUD (INSERT, SET, DELETE)</li> <li>WHERE filters</li> <li>RETURN projection</li> <li>Basic aggregations (COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX)</li> <li>ORDER BY and LIMIT</li> </ul> <h4 id="full-gql" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Full GQL <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="full-gql" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Full GQL"> Share link </button> </h4>Complete specification including: <ul> <li>Path queries (SHORTEST, ALL SHORTEST, K SHORTEST)</li> <li>Temporal types and operations</li> <li>Full text search</li> <li>Transactions and savepoints</li> <li>Schema definition</li> <li>Constraints and indexes</li> </ul> Geode publishes a conformance profile: ISO/IEC 39075:2024 compliance (see conformance profile) <h3 id="geodes-gql-implementation" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Geode&rsquo;s GQL Implementation <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="geodes-gql-implementation" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Geodes GQL Implementation"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="compliance" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Compliance <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="compliance" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Compliance"> Share link </button> </h4>Geode maintains 100% GQL compliance: <ul> <li>✅ MATCH and OPTIONAL MATCH with bounded expansions</li> <li>✅ WHERE, RETURN, ORDER BY</li> <li>✅ LIMIT/OFFSET policies (US001)</li> <li>✅ Set operations (UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT)</li> <li>✅ Diagnostics aligned to the conformance profile</li> </ul> <h4 id="extensions" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Extensions <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="extensions" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Extensions"> Share link </button> </h4>Geode adds enterprise features beyond the standard: Row-Level Security (RLS): <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE POLICY user_data_isolation ON User USING (id = current_user_id()); </code></pre></div>Advanced Aggregations: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">MATCH (p:Product) RETURN percentile(p.price, 0.95) AS p95_price; </code></pre></div>Parallel Query Execution: Automatic parallelization for analytical queries QUIC Transport: Modern HTTP/3 protocol for low-latency communication <h4 id="compatibility" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Compatibility <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="compatibility" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Compatibility"> Share link </button> </h4>Geode’s GQL queries are portable to other GQL-compliant databases: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- This query works on ANY GQL-compliant database MATCH (p:Person)-[:KNOWS*2..3]->(friend) WHERE p.city = 'San Francisco' RETURN friend.name, friend.city ORDER BY friend.name LIMIT 20; </code></pre></div> <h3 id="comparison-with-other-languages" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Comparison with Other Languages <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="comparison-with-other-languages" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Comparison with Other Languages"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="gql-vs-cypher" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> GQL vs. Cypher <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="gql-vs-cypher" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: GQL vs. Cypher"> Share link </button> </h4>Cypher (Neo4j’s proprietary language) influenced GQL but has differences: <table> <thead> <tr> <th>Feature</th> <th>GQL</th> <th>Cypher</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Status</td> <td>ISO standard</td> <td>Proprietary</td> </tr> <tr> <td>MATCH syntax</td> <td>Very similar</td> <td>Similar</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Path queries</td> <td>SHORTEST standardized</td> <td>Implementation-specific</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Type system</td> <td>Formally specified</td> <td>Less formal</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Portability</td> <td>Cross-database</td> <td>Neo4j only</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Migration: Most Cypher queries work in GQL with minimal changes. <h4 id="gql-vs-gremlin" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> GQL vs. Gremlin <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="gql-vs-gremlin" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: GQL vs. Gremlin"> Share link </button> </h4>Gremlin (Apache TinkerPop) uses procedural traversal syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-groovy" data-lang="groovy">// Gremlin (procedural) g.V().hasLabel('Person') .has('name', 'Alice') .out('KNOWS') .out('KNOWS') .values('name') </code></pre></div><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- GQL (declarative) MATCH (a:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[:KNOWS]->(f)-[:KNOWS]->(fof) RETURN fof.name </code></pre></div>GQL’s declarative approach is generally more intuitive and optimizable. <h4 id="gql-vs-sparql" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> GQL vs. SPARQL <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="gql-vs-sparql" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: GQL vs. SPARQL"> Share link </button> </h4>SPARQL (W3C standard for RDF) targets semantic web: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-sparql" data-lang="sparql"># SPARQL (for RDF triples) SELECT ?friendName WHERE { ?alice rdf:type :Person . ?alice :name "Alice" . ?alice :knows ?friend . ?friend :name ?friendName . } </code></pre></div><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- GQL (for property graphs) MATCH (alice:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[:KNOWS]->(friend) RETURN friend.name </code></pre></div>GQL is designed for property graphs; SPARQL for RDF triple stores. <h3 id="practical-examples" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Practical Examples <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="practical-examples" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Practical Examples"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="social-network" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Social Network <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="social-network" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Social Network"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Friend recommendations MATCH (me:User {id: $user_id})-[:FRIEND]->(f1)-[:FRIEND]->(f2) WHERE f2 <> me AND NOT EXISTS { MATCH (me)-[:FRIEND]->(f2) } RETURN f2.name, count(f1) AS mutual_friends ORDER BY mutual_friends DESC LIMIT 10; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="e-commerce" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> E-Commerce <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="e-commerce" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: E-Commerce"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Product recommendations MATCH (me:User {id: $user_id})-[:PURCHASED]->(p:Product) <-[:PURCHASED]-(similar:User) MATCH (similar)-[:PURCHASED]->(rec:Product) WHERE NOT EXISTS { MATCH (me)-[:PURCHASED]->(rec) } RETURN rec.name, count(similar) AS score ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT 20; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="fraud-detection" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Fraud Detection <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="fraud-detection" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Fraud Detection"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Circular transaction patterns MATCH path = (a:Account)-[:TRANSFER*3..5]->(a) WHERE all(r IN relationships(path) WHERE r.amount > 10000) RETURN path, reduce(sum = 0, r IN relationships(path) | sum + r.amount) AS total; </code></pre></div> <h4 id="knowledge-graph" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Knowledge Graph <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="knowledge-graph" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Knowledge Graph"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">-- Concept hierarchy traversal MATCH path = (specific:Concept)-[:IS_A*]->(general:Concept {name: 'Science'}) RETURN specific.name, length(path) AS levels_up ORDER BY levels_up; </code></pre></div> <h3 id="future-of-gql" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Future of GQL <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="future-of-gql" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Future of GQL"> Share link </button> </h3>The GQL standard will continue evolving: Expected in future versions: <ul> <li>Graph schema definition language (extended)</li> <li>Graph algorithms (PageRank, community detection)</li> <li>Streaming query results</li> <li>Time-travel queries</li> <li>Multi-graph queries</li> <li>Federated graph queries</li> </ul> Geode’s commitment: Track and implement new GQL features as standard evolves. <h3 id="resources" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Resources <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="resources" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Resources"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="official-specification" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Official Specification <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="official-specification" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Official Specification"> Share link </button> </h4><ul> <li>ISO/IEC 39075:2024 document (available from ISO)</li> <li>GQL working group: <a href="https://www.gqlstandards.org" aria-label="https://www.gqlstandards.org – opens in new window" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" >https://www.gqlstandards.org ↗ </a> </li> <li>Public drafts and discussions</li> </ul> <h4 id="learning-resources" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Learning Resources <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="learning-resources" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Learning Resources"> Share link </button> </h4><ul> <li>Geode GQL tutorial</li> <li>GQL reference documentation</li> <li>Interactive query examples</li> <li>Comparison guides (Cypher to GQL, etc.)</li> </ul> <h4 id="standards-bodies" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Standards Bodies <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="standards-bodies" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Standards Bodies"> Share link </button> </h4><ul> <li>ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 (Data management and interchange)</li> <li>ANSI INCITS DM32 (Database committee)</li> <li>GQL community forums</li> </ul> <h3 id="conclusion" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Conclusion <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="conclusion" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Conclusion"> Share link </button> </h3>The ISO/IEC 39075:2024 GQL specification represents a landmark achievement in database standardization, providing a vendor-neutral, rigorously defined language for graph data querying. Geode’s conformance profile alignment keeps queries portable, future-proof, and based on international consensus rather than proprietary technology. By learning GQL through Geode, you’re investing in a standardized skill set that will remain relevant as the graph database ecosystem matures and more vendors adopt the specification. Explore the documentation below for detailed GQL syntax reference, examples, and best practices for writing efficient, standard-compliant graph queries.

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