This whitepaper compares relational database management systems (RDBMS) and modern Graph database systems — in particular, MySQL and ArangoDB. It describes their key concepts, contrasts both at the end of each section, and concludes by explaining what sets ArangoDB apart.

This is not a migration guide, nor does it explain how to port software applications using an RDBMS to ArangoDB. Instead, it’s a high-level overview of features and differences. It can, though, serve as a starting point to understand the mindset of both types of systems, for a reader to bridge the gap from what they know about databases like MySQL, to what they may not yet understand in ArangoDB.