PostgreSQL 19 connects the dots with standardized graph queries

PostgreSQL 19 is set to introduce standardized SQL syntax for querying property graphs, marking a significant advancement in the popular open-source database's capabilities. Alastair Turner, PostgreSQL evangelist at Percona, revealed that the new feature is the result of collaboration among several of the database's largest contributors.

Property graph databases store data as nodes, relationships, and properties, offering advantages for specific workloads, but integrating them can require adding another database to the technology stack.

While PostgreSQL has been gradually incorporating graph query capabilities, the upcoming release will implement SQL/PGQ, a feature mandated by the SQL 2023 standard. This move represents a substantial step forward for PostgreSQL, as it will now support graph queries directly within the SQL syntax. OpenCypher, the open-source query language for graph databases, has heavily influenced the implementation process, with PostgreSQL committers who serve on the SQL standards committee playing a crucial role.

Turner highlighted that the implementation is "very heavily influenced" by OpenCypher, emphasizing the importance of multi-vendor collaborations in driving this development. Although the current implementation can handle queries across node-edge graphs, it still requires additional syntax features to fully replace dedicated graph databases for many workloads.

Turner expressed optimism about the SQL and PostgreSQL communities working together to optimize performance, stating that the database is "going to try to optimize everything."