Difference between Gremlin and Tinkerpop

Question

I'm trying to understand what is the difference between Tinkerpop and Gremlin (context: http://tinkerpop.apache.org/).

My assumption is that Gremlin is just the query/traversal language that can use different backends while Tinkerpop is Gremlin client + Gremlin backend (db). The official description says that Tinkerpop is a "graph computing framework", which is a bit too vague for me.

Glimpse

Any suggestions how to improve the question are appreciated. – Glimpse

No need to assume. It's in the docs tinkerpop.apache.org/docs/current/reference/… – Chef

Answer 1

I don't think you can describe a "difference" between Gremlin and Apache TinkerPop. TinkerPop is an open source project and a community that provides a graph computing framework. Core to that framework is the Gremlin graph traversal language and virtual machine. The framework is diagrammed as follows:

Roark

But what problem does TinkerPop solve? When would I want that "graph computing framework" instead of just Gremlin? – Lorenzetti

Gremlin is a graph query language. You need something to implement the language. That's what the "graph computing framework" does. Even graphs that implement their own version of the language tend to rely on the "graph computing framework" components and interfaces. in the end, i wouldn't worry too much about distinctions - just use Gremlin :) – Roark