Neo4j celebrates creation of new ISO graph query standard

The graph database and analytics company, Neo4j, has celebrated the publication of the ISO and IEC international standard for graph query language (GQL), marking a significant milestone in the database industry. This is the first certification of a new database query language by ISO since SQL, over 35 years ago.

The GQL standard defines the data structures and basic operations for working with property graphs. Neo4j has collaborated with fellow ISO committee members in the creation of the standard, responding to the increasing demand from customers for a standardised graph language. This development is a reflection of the maturation of the graph database market, marking a notable moment in the history of database innovation.

The ISO committee responsible for both the GQL and SQL standards comprises vendors, researchers, and standards professionals from around the world, including Neo4j. The GQL standard is seen as a sibling to SQL and mirrors Cypher, widely considered the de facto graph language. The standard spans over 600 pages of formal definitions and references more than 400 papers. It is comparable in size and scope to the SQL-92 standard, which subsequently became the dominant language for accessing relational databases, triggering significant growth in the relational database market. A similar impact is expected from the GQL standard.

Philip Rathle, Chief Technology Officer at Neo4j, said: "As our world becomes more and more connected, our data is also more and more connected. The best engine for operating in a connected world is a graph database." Rathle believes that graphs are supercharging digital transformation, analytics, and GenAI and treats ISO's timing for the standardisation of GQL as perfection, with knowledge graphs identified as one of the high-impact Gen AI trends.

"A lot of the AI movement has chosen to overlook the importance of open standards and open source, which are vital for platform and tooling interoperability and providing developers and organisations with choice," observed James Governor, Principal Analyst and Co-Founder, RedMonk. In the context of rising closed models and platforms, Governor sees this standardisation of GQL by ISO as ensuring that property graph handling remains a de jure standard, as is the case with SQL.

Tony Holland, Communications Lead, ISO/ IEC Joint Technical Committee 1/AG 1, echoed the sentiment calling this a "new chapter in the history of query languages" that will revolutionise the way data is interacted with. Holland believes GQL will enable navigation of complex graph structures, breakdown barriers to data interoperability and unlock new insights and innovations.

Over five years of work was invested into creating this standard with Neo4j providing vital input as committee members and technical advisors from the start. The company's role in the development of this standard underscores its position as a voice in the database industry and its expertise in graph tech, Neo4j shared in a statement.