From Triples to a Graph

When two triples reuse the same IRI, they become connected. A graph is the closure of all triples sharing nodes.

:Alice :knows :Bob .
:Bob   :knows :Carol .

That's three nodes joined by two edges — a path in a graph.

The glue is the shared IRI: :Bob appears as the object of the first triple and the subject of the second, so the engine knows it's the same node. This is also how triples from different files merge into one global graph — any two statements about :Bob automatically connect, no JOIN, no foreign key, no migration.

Reusing :Bob as both an object and a subject is how a single graph emerges from many independent statements.

Notice there is no separate schema in this picture — the structure is emergent. Add one more triple :Carol :knows :Dave . and the graph just grows by one node and one edge, no migrations involved.