igraph 1.0 enables fast and robust network analysis across programming languages
Michael Antonova, Gábor Csárdib, Szabolcs Horvátc d✉, Kirill Müllera, Tamás Nepusze, Daniel Noomf, Maëlle Salmona, Vincent Traagg, Brooke Foucault Wellesh, Fabio Zaninii j✉
- acynkra GmbH., Zürich, Switzerland
- bPosit Software, PBC, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- cCenter for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- dReykjavik University, Reykjavík, Iceland
- eSixdegrees Ltd, Budapest, Hungary
- fjitjit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- gCentre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
- hNortheastern University, Boston, Massachusett, United States of America
- iEvolution & Ecology Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- jSchool of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- ✉Corresponding author
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Abstract
Networks or graphs are widely used across the sciences to represent relationships of many kinds. The igraph (https://igraph.org) software library supports graph construction, analysis, and visualisation, combining fast and robust performance with a low entry barrier. igraph pairs a fast core written in C with beginner-friendly interfaces in Python, R, and Mathematica. After twenty years of development, igraph 1.0 has been released, enabling public access to a robust and stable network analysis with over a million monthly downloads. Thanks to its cross-language design, igraph delivers both speed and flexibility: it can handle billions of edges, supports interactive plotting, integrates with notebooks, facilitates conversions to and from other network libraries, includes a rich library of graph layout and community detection algorithms, and has a detailed documentation including non-English translations. Modern testing features such as continuous integration, address sanitizers, stricter typing, and memory-managed vectors have also increased robustness. Hundreds of bug reports have been fixed and a community forum has been opened to connect users and developers. Specific effort has been made to broaden use and community participation by women, non-binary people, and other demographic groups typically underrepresented in open source software.