Grapycal

https://www.grapycal.org/

ℹ️ Grapycal is a general-purpose visual programming language based on Python. It provides a web-based editor for writing and running programs as a graph.

The goal of this project is to make a programming language align with human perception at best, while being powerful with the help of Python, its backend.

Motivation

In our daily lives, countless ideas emerge in our minds, only to be dismissed because the perceived cost of realizing them is too high. Over time, sadly, we tend to forget our inherent creativity.

The mission of Grapycal is to push more ideas over the line to be worthy of trying out.

Grapycal is helpful for conducting experiments, including training AI, physical simulations, data analysis, computer art, and more. These experiments require repeated parameter adjustments, swapping certain components of models, while simultaneously observing the phenomena generated by different parameters. We then use human judgment combined with domain knowledge to deduce the best model or other conclusions.

In this back-and-forth process between humans and machines, using traditional Python execution methods or Jupyter notebooks can be cumbersome. Therefore, we need the higher interactivity provided by Grapycal.

Features

• Interactive: On the GUI, users can run different parts of the graph in arbitrary order, watch variables in real-time, and easily track the active node while the program runs.
• Dynamic: Grapycal allows users to modify the running graph for instant changes in its behavior. That includes adjusting parameters, adding or removing nodes from a workflow, and terminating a loop.
• Extendable: Grapycal provides a set of API for creating custom nodes for arbitary domain, such as deep learning, robotics, or music synthesis.
• Collaborative: Custom nodes definitions can be shared as Python packages. Thus, nodes for various domains can be mixed in a graph to form a powerful tool or a creative artwork (I’ll create some examples when I have time). What’s more, Grapycal supports real-time collaboration, allowing a group of people to work on the same graph over the Internet.