Abstract:Top-k subgraph matching is a key operation in graph queries which is widely used in all kinds of applications such as social networks and knowledge graphs. Top-k subgraph matching is more challenging in distributed environments since it involves data and task transfers. Thus, existing local Top-k subgraph matching methods do not work well in distributed environments. An algorithm was developed to address this issue by dividing the problem into query decomposition, query execution, and ranked join stages. The query decomposition avoids unnecessary data transfers during the querying stage. The ranked join technique avoids generating unnecessary temporal results that reduces the overall latency of the algorithm. The algorithm effectiveness and efficiency were tested using real data and the results indicate that the algorithm, especially the optimized version, effectively solves the distributed Top-k subgraph matching problem.