Database Reference
In-Depth Information
We could expand on both points quite elaborately, but instead we are going to
recommend that you read up on topics like Edward R. Tufte's for more details.
Itissuficienttosaythatgraphvisualizationscanbetrulypowerful,andthatmost
Neo4j projects today will have some kind of visualization component to them for a
combination of the previously stated reasons.
Looking for patterns
Expanding on and adding to the previous points on visualization, there is another
great reason for interacting with Neo4j in a visual way. The fact is that graph
visualizations allow humans to really use an otherwise underused capacity of our
brains: pattern recognition. When we interact with data in the traditional way (through
listsofthings,tabularstructuredreports,andsummarystatistics),itisverydificult
for our brain to discern any kind of pattern. We would need to read, assimilate, and
cognitively process all data before anything like that would become possible. But in
graph visualization, in many cases, we can just leverage the primal capability that we
have built into our machinery: the ability to recognize patterns. Pattern recognition
is a key capability of the human brain, and one we should leverage and exploit in
our business life. Representing data in a visual way, like in a graph visualization, is a
natural thing for us to do—and can yield very powerful results. After all, that's why
we whiteboard, mindmap, or doodle when we work and discuss with our colleagues,
isn'tit?
Spot what's important
Part of the power of these results will be in being able to separate the wheat from
thechaffandindoutwhatistrulyimportantinaparticulardataset.Sometimes,
that
important
piece will be in the density of the connections between a particular
data entity and the other entities. Sometimes, it will be more in the intensity of the
connections. And at other times, it will be the outliers that will be the more important
data elements—the ones with limited amounts of connectivity with the rest of the
data structure. Those data elements, which at a minimum will be interesting if not
important, will jump out of a graph visualization immediately, whereas they may
never surface in a long list of data elements that we could easily glance over.
For all of the mentioned reasons, graph visualization is truly important and should
deinitelybeexaminedindetailbyanyoneinterestedindoingaNeo4jgraph
database project.
