Top-k shortest paths in large typed RDF datasets challenge

Abstract

Perhaps the most widely appreciated linked data principle instructs linked data providers to provide useful information using the standards (i.e., RDF and SPARQL). Such information corresponds to patterns expressed as SPARQL queries that are matched against the RDF graph. Until recently, patterns had to specify the exact path that would match against the underlying graph. The advent of the SPARQL 1.1 Recommendation introduced property paths as a new graph matching paradigm that allows the employment of Kleene star * (and its variant Kleene plus +) unary operators to build SPARQL queries that are agnostic of the underlying RDF graph structure. In this paper, we present the Top-k Shortest Paths in large typed RDF Datasets Challenge. It highlights the key aspects of property path queries that employ the Kleene star operator, presenting three widely different approaches.