DSE Graph Terminology
This terminology is specific to DSE Graph.
- adjacency list
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A collection of unordered lists used to represent a finite graph. Each list describes the set of neighbors of a vertex in the graph.
- adjacent vertex
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A vertex directly attached to another vertex by an edge.
- directed graph
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A set of vertices and a set of arcs (ordered pairs of vertices). In DSE Graph, the terminology "arcs" is not used, and edges are directional.
- edge
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A connection between vertices. Edges can be unordered (no directional orientation) or ordered (directional). An edge can also be described as an object that has a vertex at its tail and head.
- element
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An element is a vertex, edge, or property.
- global index
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An index structure over the entire graph.
- graph
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A collection of vertices and edges.
- graph degree
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The largest vertex degree of the graph.
- graph partitioning
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A process that consists of dividing a graph into components, such that the components are of about the same size and there are few connections between the components.
- graph traversal
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An algorithmic walk across the elements of a graph according to the referential structure explicit within the graph data structure.
- incident edge
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An edge incident to a particular vertex, meaning that the edge and vertex touch.
- index
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An index is a data structure that allows for the fast retrieval of elements by a particular key-value pair.
- meta-property
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A property that describes some attribute of another property.
- partitioned vertex
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Used for vertices that have a very large number of edges, a partitioned vertex consists of a portion of a vertex’s data that results from dividing the vertex into smaller components for graph database storage.
Experimental
- property
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A key-value pair that describes some attribute of either a vertex or an edge. Property key is used to describe the key in the key-value pair. All properties are global in DSE Graph, meaning that a property can be used for any vertices. For example, "name" can be used for all vertices in a graph.
- traversal source
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A domain specific language (DSL) that specifies the traversal methods used by a traversal.
- undirected graph
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A set of vertices and a set of edges (unordered pairs of vertices).
- vertex-centric index
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A local index structure built per vertex.
- vertex
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A vertex is the fundamental unit of which graphs are formed. A vertex can also be described as an object that has incoming and outgoing edges.
- vertex degree
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The number of edges incident to a vertex.