GraphScript: Implementing Complex Graph Algorithms in SAP HANA

Abstract. Real-world graph applications are typically domain-specific and model complex business processes in the property graph data model. To implement a domain-specific graph algorithm in the context of such a graph application, simply providing a set of built-in graph algorithms is usually not sufficient nor does it allow algorithm customization to the user’s needs. To cope with these issues, graph database vendors provide—in addition to their declarative graph query languages—procedural interfaces to write user-defined graph algorithms.

In this paper, we introduce GraphScript, a domain-specific graph query language tailored to serve advanced graph analysis tasks and the specification of complex graph algorithms. We describe the major language design of GraphScript, discuss graph-specific optimizations, and describe the integration into an enterprise data platform.