Create command For creating Node in Neo4j

Question

I was going through Neo4j Manuals to get started with Neo4j.

So I installed Neo4j server and created my first node from the docs

CREATE (n:Actor { name:"Tom Hanks" });

As a node can have labels and properties. I interpreted the above query as creating a node with label Actor having one property name. And n means we are creating a node.

Then I come across this query CREATE (a { name : 'Andres' })

But what is that a in create(a:...) , what that a means.

Cypher syntax looks a bit weird.

Answer 1

The syntax is CREATE (variablename:Label {propertyname:"propertyValue"})

The "n" in CREATE (n:Actor { name:"Tom Hanks" }) does not mean you are creating a node, it is just a variable name here. You can use that variable name further on in the same query if you want.

In CREATE (a { name : 'Andres' }), the "a" is a variable name again. This time, a node is created without a label.