jupyterlab/docs/source/getting_started/overview.rst

.. _overview:

Overview
--------

*JupyterLab is the next-generation user interface for Project Jupyter, and will eventually replace the classic Jupyter Notebook.*

JupyterLab is an extensible open-source web-based interface for Project Jupyter.
In JupyterLab, you can arrange multiple notebooks, text editors, terminals,
output areas, and custom components, using tabs, adjustable splitters, and
collapsible sidebars. JupyterLab extensions can customize or enhance any part of
the JupyterLab, including providing custom components, themes, and new file
viewers and editors.

:ref:`JupyterLab has full support for Jupyter Notebook documents. <notebook>`
JupyterLab also enables other models of interactive computing:

-  :ref:`code_console` provide transient scratchpads for running code
   interactively, with full support for rich output. A code console can be
   linked to a notebook kernel as a computation log from the notebook, for
   example.
-  :ref:`Kernel-backed documents <kernel-backed-documents>` enable code in any
   text file (Markdown, Python, R, LaTeX, etc.) to be run interactively in any
   Jupyter kernel.
-  Notebook cell outputs can be pulled into their own tab, side-by-side with
   the notebook, enabling simple dashboards with interactive controls backed by
   a kernel.
-  Multiple views of documents with different editors or viewers enable live
   editing of documents reflected in other viewers. For example, it is easy to
   have live preview of Markdown documents, or edit GeoJSON files with live
   updates of an adjoining map.

JupyterLab also offers a unified model for viewing and handling data
formats. This enables data in many formats (images, CSV, JSON, Markdown,
PDF, Vega, Vega-Lite, etc.) to be opened as a file or returned by a
kernel as rich output. See :ref:`file-and-output-formats` for more
information.

To navigate the user interface, JupyterLab offers :ref:`customizable keyboard shortcuts <shortcuts>`
and the ability to use key maps from vim, emacs, and Sublime Text.

JupyterLab is served from the same
`server <https://jupyter-notebook.readthedocs.io/en/stable/>`__ and uses
the same `notebook document
format <http://nbformat.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`__ as the classic
Jupyter Notebook.