Imperative vs Declarative Queries

Imperative: Step-by-step (Gremlin).

Declarative: What you want (Cypher).

Neo4j: Declarative faster to write, optimize.

ETH: Both in use.

O’Reilly: Declarative aligns with agile.

Choose declarative for accessibility.

• Imperative: Control flow (Gremlin loops).
• Declarative: Pattern-match (Cypher auto-optimizes).

Explaining Imperative in Depth

Explicit steps, good for custom.

Why: Precise control.

Code Sample:

g.V().has('name', 'Alice').out().out()

flowchart TD
    Step1 --> Step2 --> Step3

Explaining Declarative in Depth

Describe result, optimizer handles.

Why: Simpler, efficient.

Code Sample:

MATCH (a)-[]->(b)-[]->(c) RETURN c

flowchart TD
    Pattern["(a)->(b)->(c)"]