Graphs and Graph Theory – an Introduction - Learning Neo4j - page 1

Graphs and Graph
Theory - an Introduction
People have different ways of learning new topics. We know that background
information can contribute greatly to a better understanding of new topics. That
is why, in this chapter of our Learning Neo4j topic, we will start with quite a bit of
background information, not to recount the tales of history, but to give you the
necessary context that can lead to a better understanding of topics.
In order to do so, we will address the following topics:
• Graphs : What they are and where they came from. This section will aim
to set the record straight on what exactly our subject will contain and what
it won't.
• Graph theory : What it is and what it is used for. This section will give you
quite a few examples of graph theory applications, and it will also start
hinting at applications for graph databases such as Neo4j later on.
So, let's dig right in.
Introduction to and history of graphs
Many people might have used the word graph at some point in their professional or
personal lives. However, chances are that they did not use it in the way that we will
be using it in this topic. Most people—obviously not you, my dear reader, otherwise
you probably would not have picked up this topic—actually think about something
very different when talking about a graph. They think about pie charts and bar
charts. They think about graphics, not graphs.