An Open-Source Plotting Library for Kotlin

Blake Bradford Avatar

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Title: “Kandy: An Open-Source Plotting Library for Kotlin”

Introduction

In the world of data visualization, Kotlin developers now have an innovative tool at their disposal – Kandy. This open-source plotting library provides a powerful and flexible DSL for creating graphs and utilizes various popular engines.

Cross-Platform Compatibility

One of the standout features of Kandy is its cross-platform compatibility. It seamlessly works within Kotlin notebooks on various platforms, including IntelliJ IDEA, Datalore, and Jupyter. Additionally, it can be used in standard Kotlin projects, ensuring maximum accessibility for developers.

Interactive Chart Features

Kandy offers a range of interactive chart features. For charts rendered in HTML and Swing, it provides interactive tooltips, enhancing the user experience and enabling advanced data exploration.

Multiple Format Export

With Kandy, developers can easily save charts in various formats such as SVG, PNG, HTML, JPEG, and TIFF. This flexibility allows for easy sharing and integration with other tools and platforms.

Kotlin Collections and DataFrame Support

One of the key advantages of Kandy is its seamless integration with Kotlin collections. Moreover, it enables graph construction using Kotlin DataFrame, making it particularly suitable for hierarchical data frames. This feature enhances data processing and visualization workflows, streamlining the entire development process.

Choosing the Perfect Visualization Engine

Kandy allows users to choose from different engines for their visualizations. It offers an implementation of the Lets-Plot library, which is based on Leland Wilkinson’s work on “The Grammar of Graphics”. Additionally, it provides an implementation of the Apache ECharts library, known for its interactive visualizations. By offering these options, Kandy empowers developers to create the perfect visualizations for their specific needs.

Getting Started with Kandy

Kandy can be easily incorporated into Kotlin notebooks, Datalore, and Kotlin Jupyter Notebook. Developers can include all the necessary dependencies and imports in their notebook using the line magic command %use kandy. This allows for a hassle-free setup and ensures that developers can quickly start visualizing their data.

Usage with Gradle

Developers can also use Kandy in their Gradle projects. By adding the necessary dependencies in the build.gradle file, they can bring the power of Kandy into their applications. Additionally, Kandy provides a range of modules that can be added to tailor the library to specific requirements.

Contributing to the Kandy Project

For developers interested in contributing to the Kandy project, there are clear guidelines available in the contributing section of the repository. By following these guidelines, developers can actively participate in the growth and evolution of this powerful library.

Conclusion

Kandy is an exciting addition to the Kotlin ecosystem, providing developers with a versatile and feature-rich plotting library. With its intuitive DSL, cross-platform compatibility, and seamless integration with Kotlin collections, Kandy opens up new possibilities for visualizing data in Kotlin. Whether you are working on a small Kotlin project or a large-scale data analysis task, Kandy has the tools you need to create stunning visualizations.

References:
Kandy Repository
Kandy Documentation
Kandy Lets-Plot Example
Kandy ECharts Example

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