# Neo4j Features and Practical Usage ⚡ "Even in a graph DB, index design is 80% of performance." Put the right index on your MATCH anchor property and lookups go from O(n) to O(log n). 🏷️ Title: Range / Text / Point / Composite index 🔗 URL: 📘 Overview An index is a copy of nodes, relationships, or properties that provides a fast access path to the primary data. Once created, the DBMS keeps it updated automatically. It speeds up the anchor (starting point) of a MATCH, and the Cypher planner selects it automatically based on the predicate. ⚙️ How It Works ・Range (default): solves the most predicates—equality, range comparisons, `IN`, and `STARTS WITH`. This is the first index to reach for. ・Text: `STRING`-only, optimized for `CONTAINS` and `ENDS WITH`—ideal for substring search screens. ・Point: for spatial `POINT` values, optimized for distance queries and bounding-box searches. ・Composite: indexes several properties together, solving multi-condition filters in one go. ・Token lookup: a foundational index that speeds up label / relationship-type lookups. ・Beyond these, full-text indexes and vector indexes (similarity search / GenAI) are also available. 🛠️ Practical Usage Creating range / composite / text / point indexes on anchor properties: ```cypher CREATE INDEX user_email IF NOT EXISTS FOR (u:User) ON ( CREATE INDEX order_composite IF NOT EXISTS FOR (o:Order) ON (o.customerId, o.status); CREATE TEXT INDEX product_name_text IF NOT EXISTS FOR (p:Product) ON ( CREATE POINT INDEX store_loc IF NOT EXISTS FOR (s:Store) ON (s.location); ``` Inspect and drop them: ```cypher SHOW INDEXES; DROP INDEX user_email IF EXISTS; ``` 💡 Use Cases ・Apps that anchor MATCH on ` `Order.orderId`, or `Product.sku`, making lookups O(log n). ・Search screens that pick range for `STARTS WITH`, text for `CONTAINS`/`ENDS WITH`, and point for geo queries. ⚠️ Caveats ・Which index applies depends on the predicate. `CONTAINS` is not served by a range index—it needs a text index. ・Indexes add write cost and storage. Confirm they are actually used with `PROFILE` before relying on them. ・Composite indexes apply from the leading property onward, so column order affects performance. #Neo4j# #Cypher#