Neo Technology Inc. is investing heavily in feature development to keep its popular graph database ahead of the pack.

The company delivered the latest batch of enhancements today as part of a new release that is one of the biggest in recent memory. For developers, the most noticeable change will be Neo4j 3.2’s revamped data workbench, which sports a snappier layout with several productivity features designed to ease program. Chief among them is an autocomplete tool that can help quickly fill in common code elements when using the database’s Cypher query language.

Under the hood, requests written in the syntax are now executed considerably faster. Much of the credit goes to a new iteration of the runtime system powering Cypher that has been included in Neo4j 3.2. Available as part of the paid Enterprise Edition, the engine can complete certain common queries three times faster than its predecessor. It’s rolling out alongside an update to the query optimization component that in turn promises to provide a speed boost of an “order of magnitude or better” for more complex requests.

Specifically, the upgrade targets database changes that traverse at least three layers of edges,  special links which connect related records inside Neo4j to speed up analysis. This feature is one of the main reasons behind the popularity of the database, a fact that gives today’s update particular significance from a competitive standpoint.

But improving performance is only one of several ways in which Neo wants to make its system more appealing. The company has also added a number of management features to court large enterprises, starting with improved support for large-scale deployments. Neo4j now automates some of the manual work involved in synchronizing activity across data centers and introduces an enhanced monitoring feature to help administrators find areas for improvement.

Last, an expanded set of configuration options lets operations staff implement any changes that may be needed more easily. The most notable addition is Node Keys, a mechanism for restricting access to the individual details that make up a record, or node, in Neo4j. One scenario where the feature could come handy is if, say, a retailer wants to prevent its analytics team from viewing credit card numbers in customer profiles.

Image: Neo Technology