Refactoring rules for graph databases

Abstract

The information generated nowadays is growing in volume and complexity, representing a technological challenge which demands more than the relational model for databases can currently offer. This situation stimulates the use of different forms of storage, such as Graph Databases. Current Graph Databases allow automatic database evolution, but do not provide adequate resources for the information organization. This is mostly left under the responsibility of the applications which access the database, compromising the data integrity and reliability. The goal of this work is the definition of refactoring rules to support the management of the evolution of Graph Databases by adapting and extending existent refactoring rules for relational databases to meet the requirements of the Graph Databases features. These refactoring rules can be used by developers of graph database management tools to guarantee the integrity of the operations of database evolution.