BF-BigGraph: An efficient subgraph isomorphism approach using machine learning for big graph databases

Graph databases are flexible NoSQL databases used to efficiently store and query complex and big data. One of the most difficult problems in graph databases is the problem of subgraph isomorphism, which involves finding a matching pattern in a given graph. Subgraph isomorphism algorithms generally encounter problems in the efficient processing of complex queries based on a lack of pruning methods and the use of a matching order. In this study, we present a new subgraph isomorphism approach based on the best-first search design strategy and name it BF-BigGraph. Our approach includes a machine learning technique to efficiently find the best matching order for various complex queries. The parameters we used in our approach as heuristics to improve the performance of complex queries on graph-based NoSQL databases are database volatility, database size, type of query, and the size of the query. We utilized the Random Forest machine learning method to narrow candidate nodes to a higher level of search and effectively reduce the search space for efficient querying and retrieval. We compared BF-BigGraph with state-of-the-art approaches, namely BB-Graph, Neo4j’s Cypher, DualIso, GraphQL, TurboIso, and VF3 using publicly available databases including undirected graphs; WorldCup, Pokec, Youtube, and a big graph database of a real demographic application (a population database) with approximately 70 million nodes of a big directed graph. The performance results of our approach for different types of complex queries on all these databases are significantly better in terms of computation time and required memory than other competing approaches in the literature.