GQL – Graph Query Language, a standardized query language for property graph databases, analogous to SQL for relational databases. It was officially released as ISO/IEC 39075 in April 2024 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). GQL enables querying, updating, and managing graph data, including nodes (vertices), edges (relationships), properties, and labels. It supports pattern matching, schema management, and both schema-free and fixed-schema graphs, making it suitable for complex, interconnected data scenarios like recommendations, fraud detection, and network analysis.
GQL is supported in graph databases like Ultipa Graph (with full conformance), TigerGraph (via GSQL compatibility), and Google Cloud Spanner’s graph extensions. It’s designed to be database-agnostic, similar to SQL.
It is not to be confused with GraphQL (often abbreviated as GQL in casual use), which is an open-source query language for APIs developed by Facebook in 2012 and released in 2015. GraphQL focuses on flexible API data fetching with a type system, not specifically on graph databases. While both deal with “queries,” GQL is a formal database standard for graphs, whereas GraphQL is an API runtime.
