This software is a versatile 2D visualization prototyping tool. It allows users to quickly create and test visualizations for a variety of applications. With its intuitive interface and flexible features, it is an excellent tool for designers, developers, and other professionals who need to create dynamic and interactive visualizations.
SUMMON's primary objective is to offer a rapid interface for developing interactive visualizations using scene graphs for OpenGL. While various Python libraries exist for OpenGL, the language's processing speed for real-time interaction with large visualizations (like trees with 100,000 leaves or sparse matrices with a million non-zeros) is sluggish. Thus, for computational power, SUMMON incorporates compiled native C++ code via an extension module for handling all real-time interactions. Python, on the other hand, is only executed when constructing and occasionally interacting with the visualization process. As a result, the software is the best of both worlds.
SUMMON is a software designed with several philosophies in mind. First, it employs Python scripting to hasten the development process and avoid overhead like code compilation. Second, it aims to minimize the creation of graphical user interfaces. Planning and placing buttons, scrollbars, and dialog boxes to construct a good interface take considerable time and effort. Additionally, even when an interface is well designed, automation for batch mode is rare. The software, instead, uses the Python prompt for most interaction, allowing users direct access to the underlying code, which is more expressive and can be automated via scripting.
Overall, if you're seeking a user-friendly software that can help you efficiently prototype 2D visualizations, SUMMON is a fantastic option. With its unique features and streamlined design process, it's an excellent tool for anyone looking to analyze and visualize large datasets.
Version 1.8.8: N/A