Both graph databases and relational databases store data items with predefined relationships between them. However, they represent the data relationships very differently. Relational databases store data in a tabular format with rows and columns. Related data is also stored in tables, and the data points link back to the original table. Operations related to data relationships become inefficient as they require multiple data table lookups. In contrast, a graph database stores data as a network of entities and relationships. It uses mathematical graph theory to store and perform operations on data relationships. Graph databases are much more efficient in relationship modeling. They improve application performance significantly for use cases with complex data interconnections.
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