= The Neo4j Cypher-DSL :sectanchors:

// tag::properties[] :groupId: org.neo4j :artifactId: neo4j-cypher-dsl

// This will be next version and also the one that will be put into the manual for the main branch :neo4j-cypher-dsl-version: 2024.2.1-SNAPSHOT // This is the latest released version, used only in the readme :neo4j-cypher-dsl-version-latest: 2024.2.0

// end::properties[]

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[abstract]

The Neo4j Cypher-DSL in its current form is a spin-off from Spring Data Neo4j 6+ (né Spring Data Neo4j⚡️RX), where it is used to generate all Cypher queries. We thank all contributors to all branches prior to 2020.0 for their effort in creating the previous versions.

The primary goal of this project is to have a type safe way of creating Cypher queries targeted at https://neo4j.com[Neo4j 4.0+]. Most of the constructs used here are modelled after https://www.opencypher.org[openCypher], but we include several constructs specific to Neo4j.

The core module of the Neo4j Cypher-DSL has no required runtime dependencies.

== Versioning

This rebooted version of the Neo4j Cypher-DSL uses https://calver.org[CalVer] in the same way Spring does since early 2020 (see https://spring.io/blog/2020/04/30/updates-to-spring-versions[Updates to Spring Versions]), starting at 2020.0.0.

The year digit is treated in a semver fashion for the core module. That means that you won't experience any breaking changes when staying in a release line. However, the first or the latest release in a given year does not necessarily reflect the current calendar year. It's kind of a trade-off, but one that we think is valuable, otherwise we would need to postpone the first release in a year until we need todo some breaking changes.

== Manual

For a gentle introduction and some getting started guides, please use our https://neo4j.github.io/cypher-dsl[Manual].

== Getting Started

=== Adding the necessary dependencies

First, include the dependency to the Neo4j Cypher-DSL under the following coordinates: {groupId}:{artifactId}:

==== Maven configuration

[source,xml,subs="verbatim,attributes"] .Inclusion of the Neo4j Cypher-DSL in a Maven project

==== Gradle configuration

[source,groovy,subs="verbatim,attributes"] .Inclusion of the Neo4j Cypher-DSL in a Gradle project

dependencies { compile '{groupId}:{artifactId}:{neo4j-cypher-dsl-version-latest}' }

=== A simple example

With the Cypher-DSL, you can build your queries starting with the static methods provided through org.neo4j.cypherdsl.core.Cypher. Static imports for those packages should be allowed:

[source,java,tabsize=4]

import static org.neo4j.cypherdsl.core.Cypher.*;

import org.neo4j.cypherdsl.core.Cypher;

class SimpleExample {

public static void main(String... a) {

    var m = node("Movie").named("m");
    var statement = Cypher.match(m)
        .returning(m)
        .build();

    System.out.println(statement.getCypher());
    // Prints MATCH (m:`Movie`) RETURN m
}

}

=== Required Java Version

From version 2023.0.0 onwards, the minimal required Java version to use and build the Cypher-DSL is Java 17. If you need a version that is compatible with Java 8, please use 2022.9.x.

== Licensing

The Cypher-DSL itself is licenced under the https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0[Apache License 2.0].