igraph 1.0 enables fast and robust network analysis across programming languages

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.

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Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
PLoS ONE
Published
2026-08-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0355108
Citations
35
Primary Topic
Software System Performance and Reliability
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
228.26

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article

igraph 1.0 enables fast and robust network analysis across programming languages

Szabolcs Horvát, Tamás Nepusz, Daniel Noom, Maëlle Salmon et al.
35 citations
PLoS ONE
Software System Performance and Reliability
228.26
article

igraph 1.0 enables fast and robust network analysis across programming languages

Szabolcs Horvát, Tamás Nepusz, Daniel Noom, Maëlle Salmon, Brooke Foucault Welles, Kirill Müller, Vincent Traag, Gábor Csárdi, Fabio Zanini, Michael Antonov
article en
35 citations

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.

PLoS ONEVol. 21(8)
Leiden University (NL), Reykjavík University (IS), Northeastern University (US), University of Applied Sciences Leiden (NL), UNSW Sydney (AU), PTC (United States) (US), Zurich Chamber of Commerce (CH), Center for Systems Biology Dresden (DE), Hague Institute of Private International and Foreign Law (NL)
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Software System Performance and Reliability
228.26
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