Python quick start
At the end of this guide, you will have created a simple Python Hello,
World!
program that connects to the Memgraph database and executes simple
queries.
Prerequisites
To follow this guide, you will need:
- A running Memgraph instance. If you need to set up Memgraph, take a look at the Installation guide.
- The pymgclient driver. A Memgraph database adapter for the Python programming language.
- A basic understanding of graph databases and the property graph model.
Basic setup
We'll be using a Python program to demonstrate how to connect to a running
Memgraph database instance.
Let's jump in and connect a simple program to Memgraph.
1. Create a new directory for your program, for example, /memgraph_python
and position yourself in it.
2. Create a new Python script and name it
program.py
. Add the following code to it:
import mgclient
# Make a connection to the database
connection = mgclient.connect(host='127.0.0.1', port=7687)
# Create a cursor for query execution
cursor = connection.cursor()
# Delete all nodes and relationships
query = "MATCH (n) DETACH DELETE n"
# Execute the query
cursor.execute(query)
# Create a node with the label FirstNode and message property with the value "Hello, World!"
query = """CREATE (n:FirstNode)
SET n.message = '{message}'
RETURN 'Node ' + id(n) + ': ' + n.message""".format(message="Hello, World!")
# Execute the query
cursor.execute(query)
# Fetch one row of query results
row = cursor.fetchone()
# Print the first member in row
print(row[0])
If the program fails to connect to a Memgraph instance that was started with
Docker, you may need to use a different IP address (not the default localhost
/ 127.0.0.1
) to connect to the instance.
You can find the CONTAINER_ID
with docker ps
and use it in the following
command to retrieve the address:
docker inspect -f '{{range.NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' CONTAINER_ID
3. Now, you can run the application with the following command:
python ./program.py
You should see an output similar to the following:
Node 1: Hello, World!
Where to next?
For real-world examples of how to use Memgraph, we suggest you take a look at the Tutorials page. You can also browse through the How-to guides section to get an overview of all the functionalities Memgraph offers.