Book Image

Network Graph Analysis and Visualization with Gephi

By : Ken Cherven
Book Image

Network Graph Analysis and Visualization with Gephi

By: Ken Cherven

Overview of this book

<p>Gephi is an interactive visualization and exploration platform for all kinds of networks and complex systems. Social media data has helped to drive network visualization to new levels of relevance and importance. However, there is far more to network visualization than just social media data. For analyzing and visualizing network graphs, you need to have an excellent platform, and you need to know ways to use your data effectively.</p> <p>Network Graph Analysis and Visualization with Gephi is a practical, hands-on guide that provides you with all the tools you need to begin creating your own network graphs. You will learn how to import data, test multiple graph layouts, and publish your visualizations to the Web.</p> <p>Network Graph Analysis and Visualization with Gephi will teach you how to create your own network graphs using Gephi. The book begins by taking you through the installation of Gephi and configuring the installation options. You will also get acquainted with the Gephi workspace and the various tools in Gephi. Next, you’ll use these tools to create your own graphs. If you need to add more capability to your personal toolkit, you will be learning to Download and install several of the best Gephi layout plugins. You will then use these layouts simultaneously to produce beautiful graphs. Also, you create and import data in Gephi and add some new plugins that extend Gephi even further. You also gain the skills to prepare and customize your network visualization for export.</p> <p>By the end of this book, you will be able to create your own network graphs using Gephi, customize the look and feel of your graphs, and successfully publish them to the Web.</p>
Table of Contents (16 chapters)

Summary


In this chapter you learned how to create and import Gephi data. Specifically, you should now understand the concepts detailed below.

Nodes represent the items or entities within a network graph, and edges are the lines that connect nodes to one another. Each node or edge can be sized to represent the relative weight of both an item and its connections to other nodes in the network accurately. Gephi makes it quite simple to specify these weights using the Data Laboratory.

You have also learned how to import data from a spreadsheet file into Gephi. This approach will enable you to work with larger files and specify node sizes and edge weights without having to use the Data Laboratory.

Finally, we learned how to use a MySQL database connection to create files to be imported into Gephi. This can be an excellent option if you have data that is already in the MySQL format, and it is often the best choice for working with large datasets.

Now that you are comfortable creating and importing...