Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Neo4j works under the covers. This will allow you to understand
why
certain setups, and
the tweaking of certain settings, cause Neo4j to operate in the way it does, rather than just
knowing that particular options exist.
Mechanical sympathy?
Mechanical sympathy
is a metaphor that's gaining in popularity in the computing world.
It's basically used to convey the idea that in order to get the most out of a tool or system
properly (Neo4j in this case), it helps if you understand how it works under the covers (the
mechanics). You can then use this knowledge in the most appropriate way.
The original metaphor itself is attributed to the Formula 1 racing car driver Jackie Stewart,
who is believed to have said that in order to be a great driver, you must have mechanical
sympathy for your racing car. Stewart believed that the best performances came as a result
of the driver and car working together in perfect harmony.
Martin Thompson of LMAX fame was the first to popularize the use of this metaphor (as
far as I'm aware) in the computing sense, when describing how the LMAX team came up
with the low-latency, high-throughput disruptor pattern. His use of the metaphor can be
seen in the presentation “LMAX—How to Do 100K TPS at Less than 1ms Latency” at
The high-level Neo4j architecture is shown in
figure 11.1
.
Your tour through the architec-
ture will begin at the bottom of this figure and wind its way up to the top.
