https://github.com/nteract/kernel-relay

Notebooks.¶

A rendered REPL combining

REPL (Read–Eval–Print Loop)

• Code
• Logs
• Documentation
• Execution Results

Useful for

• Iterative Development
• Sharing Results
• Integrating Various API Calls

Wins.¶

• Shareable
• Easy to Read
• Documentation with Code
• Outputs as Reports
• Familiar Interface
• Multi-Language

Notebooks: A REPL Protocol + UIs¶

Exploring and Prototyping.¶

The Good.¶

Notebooks have several attractive attributes that lend themselves to particular development stories:

• Quick iteration cycles
• Expensive queries once
• Recorded outputs
• Easy to modify

The Bad.¶

But they have drawbacks, some of which kept Notebooks from being used in wider development stories:

• Lack of history
• Difficult to test
• Mutable document
• Hard to parameterize
• Live collaboration

Focus points to extend uses.¶

Things to preserve:¶

• Results linked to code
• Good visuals
• Easy to share

Things to improve:¶

• Not versioned
• Mutable state
• Templating

Notebooks are good integration tools.¶

• Notebooks are good at connecting pieces of technology and building a result or taking an action with that technology.
• They're unreliable to reuse when complex and when they have a high branching factor.

Some development guidelines.¶

• Keep a low branching factor
• Short and simple is better
• Keep to one primary outcome
• (Try to) Leave library functions in libraries
  • Move complexity to libraries