Merge: to cause (two or more things, such as two companies) to come together and become one thing : to join or unite (one thing) with another (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/merge
Do you see anything common between that definition of merge and:
- It ensures that a pattern exists in the graph by creating it if it does not exist already
- It will not use partially existing (unbound) patterns- it will attempt to match the entire pattern and create the entire pattern if missing
- When unique constraints are defined, MERGE expects to find at most one node that matches the pattern
- It also allows you to define what should happen based on whether data was created or matched
The quote is from Cypher MERGE Explained by Luanne Misquitta. Great post if you want to understand the operation of Cypher “merge,” which has nothing in common with the term “merge” in English.
Want to create semantic confusion?
Choose a well-known term and define new and unrelated semantics for it. Creates a demand for training, tutorials as well as confused users.
I first saw this in a tweet by GraphAware.