Julian's Polymath Explorations

(UPDATED APR. 2024)   I have ample evidence from multiple sources that there are strong unmet needs in the area of visualization of graph databases. And whenever there's a vacuum, vendors circle like vultures - with incomplete, non-customizable, and at times ridiculously expensive, closed-box proprietary solutions.   Fortunately, coming to the rescue is the awesome open-source cytoscape.js library ,  an offshoot of the "Cytoscape" project of the  Institute for Systems Biology , a project with a long history that goes back to 2002. One can do amazing custom solutions, relatively easily, when one combines this Cytoscape library with:   1) a front-end framework such as Vue.js   2) backend libraries (for example in python) to prepare and serve the data   For example, a while back I created a visualizer for networks of chemical reactions, for another open-source project I lead ( life123.science )   This visualizer will look and feel generally familiar to anyone who has eve

A growing, ongoing series on Graph Databases and Neo4j.  The series has grown so large that I'm "factoring out" their Table of Contents as a separate entry, here! A series on Graph Databases and Neo4j part 0    (alternate version of part 1 for a general, non-technical audience)   :             What are Graph Databases - and Why Should I Care?? : "Graph Databases for Poets" part 1 : Intro to Graph Databases (Neo4j) - a revolution in modeling the real world! part 2 : Neo4j Sandbox Tutorial : try Neo4j and learn Cypher the free and easy way part 3 : Neo4j & Cypher Tutorial : Getting Started with a Graph Database and its Query Language  part 4 : Using Neo4j with Python : the Open-Source Library NeoAccess part 5 : Using Schema in Graph Databases such as Neo4j part 6  : Putting it All Together - a Technology Stack on Top of a Graph Database SPECIAL TOPICS *  Full-Text Search with the Neo4j Graph Datab

Using graph databases, you may have a need for ORDERED SEQUENCES of data records... For example: ordered sequences of adverse events in clinical trials ordered sequences of text messages ordered sequences of chemical production steps ordered sequences of "content items" for a content management system   Good news : an open-source library exists for conveniently managing this data model in a Neo4j graph database (and in principle could be ported to other graph databases.)   This concept of ordered sequences of data nodes:   1) is hugely general : I gave them the name "(Ordered)  Collections " 2) can be tricky to implement fully (for example, to deal with multiple insertions in the middle) 3) fortunately, all is handled by this open-source library! 😁   => Here's the documentation => Here's the source code This article is part of a growing,  ongoing series  on Graph Databases and Neo4j A Simple Example The attached image is a simple example of a &quo