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Livebook VS Observable Notebooks

Compare Livebook VS Observable Notebooks and see what are their differences

Livebook logo Livebook

Automate code & data workflows with interactive Elixir notebooks

Observable Notebooks logo Observable Notebooks

The portfolio and technical blog of Chris Henrick – provider of professional web development, data visualization, GIS, mapping, & cartography services.
  • Livebook Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-04-09
  • Observable Notebooks Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-06-14

Livebook features and specs

  • Interactive Notebooks
    Livebook provides interactive notebooks that support live code execution, allowing users to experiment and see results in real-time.
  • Elixir Integration
    It is built on top of the Elixir programming language, offering seamless integration and leveraging Elixir’s concurrency and fault-tolerance features.
  • Collaboration Features
    Livebook offers collaboration features that allow multiple users to work on the same notebook simultaneously, improving teamwork and productivity.
  • Customizable Environments
    Users can customize their environments to suit specific project needs, including adding dependencies and scripts directly in the notebook.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source means Livebook is free to use and its source code is available for modifications and contributions from the community.

Possible disadvantages of Livebook

  • Limited Language Support
    Livebook is primarily focused on Elixir, which may not be suitable for users who require support for other programming languages typically used in data science.
  • Learning Curve
    Users unfamiliar with Elixir or live notebook environments might experience a learning curve when starting with Livebook.
  • Early Stage Features
    As a relatively new tool, some features might still be in development or lack the maturity and polish of more established platforms.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies within Livebook can be less straightforward compared to dedicated package managers used in other environments.
  • Community and Resource Availability
    Since it is a specialized tool, resources, community support, and third-party integrations might be less abundant compared to more widely-used solutions like Jupyter.

Observable Notebooks features and specs

  • Interactivity
    Observable Notebooks offer built-in interactivity, allowing users to manipulate data and visualizations directly within the notebook.
  • Real-time Collaboration
    Multiple users can edit and interact with the same notebook simultaneously, similar to Google Docs, enhancing collaborative workflows.
  • Dynamic Imports
    Observable notebooks allow importing of JavaScript libraries and modules dynamically, making it easy to incorporate external tools and APIs.
  • Reactive Data Flow
    Observable employs a reactive programming model where cells automatically update when the data they depend on changes.
  • Integrated Visualization
    Provides seamless integration with D3.js and other visualization libraries for creating complex, data-driven visuals.

Possible disadvantages of Observable Notebooks

  • Learning Curve
    Users need to understand the reactive programming model and Observable’s unique syntax, which can be a barrier for beginners.
  • Limited Language Support
    Observable Notebooks primarily use JavaScript, limiting users who prefer or require other programming languages for data analysis.
  • Performance Issues
    Highly interactive or computationally heavy notebooks can experience performance slowdowns, particularly on less powerful machines.
  • Online Only
    Observable Notebooks require an internet connection as they work primarily in the browser, posing challenges for offline work scenarios.
  • Integration Limitations
    Observable’s unique environment may present integration challenges with other tools and workflows that aren't web-based.

Livebook videos

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Observable Notebooks videos

Observable Notebooks and D3.Js with Amelia Wattenberger and Vlad Korobov

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Livebook and Observable Notebooks)
Data Science And Machine Learning
Data Science Notebooks
0 0%
100% 100
Technical Computing
100 100%
0% 0
Python IDE
31 31%
69% 69

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Livebook seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Livebook mentions (7)

  • Zasper: A Modern and Efficient Alternative to JupyterLab, Built in Go
    How's the maturity compared to Livebook? https://livebook.dev/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Elixir Learning Plan
    2) Start using IEx or LiveBook for any day to day scripting that I would normally use Python for. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Ruby in Jupyter Notebook
    Definitely look into Livebook and Elixir, and the whole ecosystem around it, including: - https://github.com/elixir-nx/axon Multi-dimensional arrays (tensors) and numerical definitions for Elixir - https://github.com/elixir-nx/scholar Pre-trained Neural Network models in Axon (+ Models integration) - https://github.com/elixir-explorer/explorer (for offloading large work to remote containers) -... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Ruby in Jupyter Notebook
    I love the approach, it's similar to what the Elixir folks have been working on with Livebook https://livebook.dev which seems somewhat more refined on the UI side + the benefits of distributed erlang/elixir (e.g. a livebook can interface with a live system and interact with the remote application/gpu etc). - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Show HN: PlayBooks – Convert on-call documents into executable notebooks
    You might also like Elixir Livebook! :) https://livebook.dev/. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
View more

Observable Notebooks mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Observable Notebooks yet. Tracking of Observable Notebooks recommendations started around Jun 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Livebook and Observable Notebooks, you can also consider the following products

Jupyter - Project Jupyter exists to develop open-source software, open-standards, and services for interactive computing across dozens of programming languages. Ready to get started? Try it in your browser Install the Notebook.

iPython - iPython provides a rich toolkit to help you make the most out of using Python interactively.

BeakerX - Open Source Polyglot Data Science Tool

Eve - Programming designed for humans

Kajero - Interactive JavaScript notebooks - create good-looking, responsive, interactive documents.

Wolfram Language - Knowledge-based programming