5 ms·

How is this different than Ipython/Jupyter notebooks? Whys everyone freaking out about this.

wizzard0 9y ago
basically if you have a bunch of code blocks that depend on each others' results - you don't have to remember which ones to update if you changed one, it will update automatically. especially useful with data visualization/exploration, but also helps a lot if you have a complex sequence where it's easy to get lost and forget to recompute something. there's a youtube link in the comments here which explains a lot.
- maksimum 9y ago
  > you don't have to remember which ones to update if you changed one, it will update automatically. Although I see how that would enable rapid iteration and make e.g. creating nice visualizations much easier, I don't think it should be mandatory. The user may want to control the state their notebook and variables are in manually.
  - hk__2 9y ago
    > The user may want to control the state their notebook and variables are in manually. Can you share an example where you’d want that behavior? Spreadsheet cells don’t ask you when they update themselves.
    - mkesper 9y ago
      There's an option for that. It's needed if your spreadsheet is too big / your calculations are too expensive.
      - hk__2 9y ago
        Thanks; that’s good to know!
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    Isn't that like saying you want to control your execution manually? Basically, this just get rids of the manual refresh button that would be required to sync pieces of dependent computations after code or data changes somewhere. It is as if the graphics were running in immediate mode being refreshed completely on every frame (a common goal for live programming systems).
mbostock 9y ago
A few differences. 1. You don’t have to install anything, so running (or forking) someone else’s notebook is as simple as clicking a link. 2. It’s reactive, which means simpler code and better feedback, particularly when building user interfaces or analyzing realtime data. 3. It runs in the browser so you have direct access to powerful graphics (and GPU computation): Canvas, SVG, WebGL. 4. You can quickly import code for reuse from other notebooks, making a notebook a kind of lightweight library as well as a human-readable document.
- goatlover 9y ago
  > 3. It runs in the browser so you have direct access to powerful graphics (and GPU computation): Canvas, SVG, WebGL Jupyter is a web server. Notebooks run in the browser. iPython the kernel can run on the command line in addition to the browser. > 1. You don’t have to install anything, so running (or forking) someone else’s notebook is as simple as clicking a link Jupyter lets you clone notebooks with the click of a button. Also, you can run Javascript from a Notebook cell, and there are Python libraries that interface with the JS visualization libraries, like Plotly.
  - acosmism 9y ago
    same as https://gryd.us https://gryd.us
    - dang 9y ago
      You've crossed into spamming HN with those links, a long time ago in fact. Please don't do this. It's fine to link to your stuff when it's relevant and serves good conversation. It's not fine to use HN just for promotion.
  - danso 9y ago
    Jupyter Notebooks run in the browser but what examples are there of being able to write Python and have the same kind of access to the DOM and graphics APIs like you have with JavaScript?

basically if you have a bunch of code blocks that depend on each others' results - you don't have to remember which ones to update if you changed one, it will update automatically. especially useful with data visualization/exploration, but also helps a lot if you have a complex sequence where it's easy to get lost and forget to recompute something. there's a youtube link in the comments here which explains a lot.

maksimum 9y ago
> you don't have to remember which ones to update if you changed one, it will update automatically. Although I see how that would enable rapid iteration and make e.g. creating nice visualizations much easier, I don't think it should be mandatory. The user may want to control the state their notebook and variables are in manually.
- hk__2 9y ago
  > The user may want to control the state their notebook and variables are in manually. Can you share an example where you’d want that behavior? Spreadsheet cells don’t ask you when they update themselves.
  - mkesper 9y ago
    There's an option for that. It's needed if your spreadsheet is too big / your calculations are too expensive.
    - hk__2 9y ago
      Thanks; that’s good to know!
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  Isn't that like saying you want to control your execution manually? Basically, this just get rids of the manual refresh button that would be required to sync pieces of dependent computations after code or data changes somewhere. It is as if the graphics were running in immediate mode being refreshed completely on every frame (a common goal for live programming systems).

mbostock 9y ago

A few differences. 1. You don’t have to install anything, so running (or forking) someone else’s notebook is as simple as clicking a link. 2. It’s reactive, which means simpler code and better feedback, particularly when building user interfaces or analyzing realtime data. 3. It runs in the browser so you have direct access to powerful graphics (and GPU computation): Canvas, SVG, WebGL. 4. You can quickly import code for reuse from other notebooks, making a notebook a kind of lightweight library as well as a human-readable document.

goatlover 9y ago
> 3. It runs in the browser so you have direct access to powerful graphics (and GPU computation): Canvas, SVG, WebGL Jupyter is a web server. Notebooks run in the browser. iPython the kernel can run on the command line in addition to the browser. > 1. You don’t have to install anything, so running (or forking) someone else’s notebook is as simple as clicking a link Jupyter lets you clone notebooks with the click of a button. Also, you can run Javascript from a Notebook cell, and there are Python libraries that interface with the JS visualization libraries, like Plotly.
- acosmism 9y ago
  same as https://gryd.us https://gryd.us
  - dang 9y ago
    You've crossed into spamming HN with those links, a long time ago in fact. Please don't do this. It's fine to link to your stuff when it's relevant and serves good conversation. It's not fine to use HN just for promotion.
- danso 9y ago
  Jupyter Notebooks run in the browser but what examples are there of being able to write Python and have the same kind of access to the DOM and graphics APIs like you have with JavaScript?