1. A method comprising: receiving, from a client device, at a graph database system, a graph analytic program that is written in a graph-specific programming language; in response to receiving the graph analytic program, compiling, at the graph database system, the graph analytic program to generate an executable; storing, in volatile memory, graph data of a particular graph that the graph analytic program targets; executing the executable to directly access the graph data; generating, at the graph database system, results of executing the executable; sending the results from the graph database system to the client device; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.