# Prerelease: MakiE - interactive plotting!

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811>\
**Category:** Community\
**Tags:** announcement\
**Created:** [October 31, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811 "2017-10-31T19:09:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sdanisch](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sdanisch/32/1406_2.png) [@sdanisch](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sdanisch)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/1 "2017-10-31T19:09:39Z")

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Hi,  
I’m happy to announce the first release of [MakiE](https://github.com/SimonDanisch/MakiE.jl) today!  
It’s a prototype for restructuring Plots.jl to make it faster and more interactive!  
For now it is mainly an improved API over [GLVisualize](https://github.com/JuliaGL/GLVisualize.jl/) but it should quickly grow into a feature complete plotting package.

Please check the documentation to get a first impression of how things work.

MakiE is not yet complete and possibly contains quite a bit of inconsistent behaviour, but it would be great if people can already try it out and give feedback as early on as possible - or even get involved in the development.  
There are a lot of low hanging fruit e.g. in writing more high level functionality (e.g. automatically inserting axes etc)!  
I will release a list of TODOs and examples in the devdocs later on!

[https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1010467/32203311-b6624fd6-bde2-11e7-97ca-23cc41c7a475.gif(image larger than 4 MB)](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1010467/32203311-b6624fd6-bde2-11e7-97ca-23cc41c7a475.gif)

Happy Halloween!  
Simon

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**Author:** ![grero](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/grero/32/109_2.png) [@grero](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/grero)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/2 "2017-11-01T02:01:34Z")

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Really nice work, Simon. I can’t wait to start playing with this : )

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**Author:** ![NickNack](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/nicknack/32/1792_2.png) [@NickNack](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/NickNack)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 10:05am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/3 "2017-11-01T10:05:08Z")

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I suspect I’m not the only one who is completely clueless about the name. It looks like it references other stuff, but nothing that rings a bell for me. Care to explain?

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**Author:** ![mkborregaard](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkborregaard/32/556_2.png) [@mkborregaard](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkborregaard)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 11:07am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/4 "2017-11-01T11:07:29Z")

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[http://lmgtfy.com/?q=wiki+makie](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=wiki+makie)

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**Author:** ![mzaffalon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mzaffalon/32/214168_2.png) [@mzaffalon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mzaffalon)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 12:41pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/5 "2017-11-01T12:41:10Z")

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What does “lmgtfy” mean?

(Sorry, I could not resist it.)

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**Author:** ![mauro3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mauro3/32/292_2.png) [@mauro3](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mauro3)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/6 "2017-11-01T12:45:59Z")

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It’s getting a bit meta: [LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=lmgtfy)

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**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/7 "2017-11-01T12:54:05Z")

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I find this kind of response unwarranted. Also curious, the first thing I did was search for “`makie`” but none of the results seem closely connected (I get clothing stores and similar, could be a regional Google thing?), and I don’t quite see how “maki” (the dish) relates to plotting either.

So I am glad that @NickNack asked the question, and I am still interested in the answer.

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**Author:** ![mkborregaard](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkborregaard/32/556_2.png) [@mkborregaard](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkborregaard)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/8 "2017-11-01T13:27:39Z")

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Sorry, I didn’t mean to come across as provocative. I personally find the lmgtfy feature quite fun. Maki-e is a Japanese art of making objects more beautiful by sprinkling gold on them.

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**Author:** ![yakir12](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/yakir12/32/297_2.png) [@yakir12](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/yakir12)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/9 "2017-11-01T14:44:30Z")

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So is MakiE’s goal to _feel_ like Plots.jl but be better? Or will MakiE end up as one of Plots.jl’s backends? Or is it Plots.jl, but more of new version?

I freaking love the demos on the github page.

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**Author:** ![mkborregaard](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkborregaard/32/556_2.png) [@mkborregaard](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkborregaard)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/10 "2017-11-01T14:55:53Z")

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Potentially, MakiE could end up replacing Plots (perhaps even taking over the name), with the same syntax and support for backends and recipes, but better support for interactivity, 3d plotting and the GPU. But it’s a little distance in the future (Plots has a LOT of quite subtle features so feature parity isn’t easy to reach) and we’ll have to see how it plays out. Check [https://github.com/SimonDanisch/MakiE.jl/issues/8](https://github.com/SimonDanisch/MakiE.jl/issues/8)

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**Author:** ![yakir12](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/yakir12/32/297_2.png) [@yakir12](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/yakir12)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/11 "2017-11-01T15:27:45Z")

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I see… Thanks! Well, that’s exciting! Time to first plot is something I suffer from.

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**Author:** ![mkborregaard](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkborregaard/32/556_2.png) [@mkborregaard](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkborregaard)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/12 "2017-11-01T15:35:13Z")

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Keep your session open for a week or two 🙂 That’s what I do

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**Author:** ![yakir12](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/yakir12/32/297_2.png) [@yakir12](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/yakir12)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/13 "2017-11-01T15:36:29Z")

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wah! 🙀

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**Author:** ![sdanisch](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sdanisch/32/1406_2.png) [@sdanisch](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sdanisch)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/14 "2017-11-01T16:08:00Z")

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I [added an explanation](https://github.com/SimonDanisch/MakiE.jl) about the name and if you click on the header you get taken to the code to create the header.  
Which was of course drawn interactively with MakiE 😉

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**Author:** ![kristoffer.carlsson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/kristoffer.carlsson/32/22_2.png) [@kristoffer.carlsson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/kristoffer.carlsson)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/15 "2017-11-01T16:57:54Z")

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Missing Hiccup, Media, Juno, ModernGL in REQUIRE?

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**Author:** ![sdanisch](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sdanisch/32/1406_2.png) [@sdanisch](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sdanisch)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/16 "2017-11-01T21:05:43Z")

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Fixed! 🙂

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**Author:** ![StefanKarpinski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stefankarpinski/32/24_2.png) [@StefanKarpinski](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StefanKarpinski)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/17 "2017-11-01T23:08:34Z")

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I’d like to make another plea to use the name `Visualize` for the final version instead of the now-abandoned prototype, rather than the obscure and IMO strangely capitalized `MakiE` name.

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**Author:** ![swissr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/swissr/32/208_2.png) [@swissr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/swissr)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 9:57am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/18 "2017-11-02T09:57:56Z")

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I feel the same with capitalization. But the name per se, “Makie”, I like quite well. It has more ~personality, ~magic than an utilitarian Visualize. And in case MakiE/Makie should become one of or the dominant plot package, obscurity won’t be a problem imo.

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**Author:** ![sdanisch](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sdanisch/32/1406_2.png) [@sdanisch](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sdanisch)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/19 "2017-11-02T20:38:22Z")

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I started to dislike the capitalization as well. I thought it makes sense for leaving out the `-`, but it’s so annoying to write and looks less nice!  
@StefanKarpinski, ultimately I don’t really care that much about the name. But I wanted to, as @swissr also puts it, have something a bit more magical and unique. I think what I will do is let it live as `Makie` for a bit, and when I do the final release and refactoring with Plots, we can just make a poll! 😉

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**Author:** ![pauljurczak](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/pauljurczak/32/921_2.png) [@pauljurczak](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/pauljurczak)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811/20 "2017-11-03T03:07:38Z")

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Makie looks better than MakiE, but I would suggest to think long term in order to avoid another wxWindows → wxWidgets debacle. [MAKIE](https://tmdb.eu/trademark/EU010865467-makie.html) is a trademark, [name](https://www.makieclothier.com/) of a clothing store and part of another [trademark](https://www.trademarkia.com/makie-style-79093748.html). Googling your prospective name is a must in today’s litigious world.

[Next page](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/prerelease-makie-interactive-plotting/6811.md?page=2)