Fast And Educational Exploration And Analysis Of Graph Data Structures With graph-tool

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July 6th, 2021

41 mins 59 secs

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About this Episode

Summary

If you are interested in a library for working with graph structures that will also help you learn more about the research and theory behind the algorithms then look no further than graph-tool. In this episode Tiago Peixoto shares his work on graph algorithms and networked data and how he has built graph-tool to help in that research. He explains how it is implemented, how it evolved from a simple command line tool to a full-fledged library, and the benefits that he has found from building a personal project in the open.

Announcements

  • Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python’s role in data and science.
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  • Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Tiago Peixoto about graph-tool, an efficient Python module for manipulation and statistical analysis of graphs

Interview

  • Introductions
  • How did you get introduced to Python?
  • Can you describe what graph-tool is and the story behind it?
  • What are some scenarious where someone might encounter a graph oriented data set?
    • In what ways are those graphs typically represented?
    • In your experience, what is the overlap of people who are working with networked data, and the use of graph-native databases? (e.g. Neo4J, DGraph, etc.)
  • What kinds of analysis or manipulation might someone need to perform on a graph structure?
  • There are a few different tools in Python for working with networked data. How would you characterize the current ecosystem and why someone might choose graph-tool?
  • Can you describe how graph-tool is implemented?
    • How have the goals and design of the package changed or evolved since you first began working on it?
  • Who are your target users and what are the guiding principles that you use to inform the API design for the package?
    • How much knowledge of graph theory or algorithms are required to make effective use of graph-tool?
  • Can you talk through an example workflow of using graph-tool to load, process, and analyze a graph?
  • What are some of the overlooked or underutilized aspects of graph-tool that you think more people should know about?
  • What are some systems/applications that you have seen which would be simplified by adopting a graph model for their data?
    • What is your impression of the overall awareness of the benefits of graphs for simplifying aspects of data processing and analysis?
  • What are some cases where a graph structure adds unnecessary complexity?
  • What are the most interesting, innovative, or unexpected ways that you have seen graph-tool used?
  • What are the most interesting, unexpected, or challenging lessons that you have learned while working on graph-tool?
  • When is graph-tool the wrong choice?
  • What do you have planned for the future of graph-tool?

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Picks

Closing Announcements

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Links

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA