GitHub

Project Description: Map of GitHub

What is the project about?

The project is a visual map of over 400,000 GitHub projects, where projects with many shared stargazers are positioned closer to each other.

What problem does it solve?

It provides a novel way to explore and discover GitHub projects based on their relationships, revealing clusters of projects with similar interests or communities.

What are the features of the project?

  • Visualization: A map-like interface displaying GitHub projects as dots.
  • Clustering: Projects are grouped based on shared stargazers, forming "countries".
  • Similarity: Proximity between projects indicates a high degree of shared stargazers.
  • Country Naming: Clusters are given names (often generated by ChatGPT) reflecting the common theme of the repositories within them.
  • Search: A search box allows users to find repositories by name.
  • Editable Country Labels: Country labels can be edited via pull requests.

What are the technologies used in the project?

  • Google BigQuery: Used to fetch GitHub star data.
  • AWS EC2: Used for computing Jaccard Similarity due to high RAM requirements.
  • Jaccard Similarity: Algorithm to measure the similarity between repositories.
  • Leiden Clustering: Algorithm to group repositories into clusters.
  • ngraph.forcelayout: Custom library for computing node layouts.
  • MapLibre: Used for rendering the map.
  • Tippecanoe: Used for generating map tiles.
  • GeoJSON: Data format used for map data.
  • ChatGPT: Used to generate names for the clusters ("countries").

What are the benefits of the project?

  • Discovery: Helps users discover new projects related to their interests.
  • Exploration: Provides a visual way to explore the GitHub landscape.
  • Community Insight: Reveals communities and relationships between projects.
  • Open Source: The project is open-source, allowing for contributions and modifications.

What are the use cases of the project?

  • Finding related projects: Users can find projects similar to those they already like.
  • Exploring new areas: Discover projects in unfamiliar domains.
  • Understanding the GitHub ecosystem: Gain insights into the relationships between different projects and communities.
  • Research: The data and visualization can be used for research on open-source collaboration and trends.
map-of-github screenshot