ABOUT THIS BOOKxvi
GraphFrames is a library on GitHub (developed by some of the developers of
GraphX) that uses Spark
SQL DataFrames rather than RDDs to provide a conve-
nient and high-performing way to query graphs.
We also include four appendixes in the book. Appendix A addresses installing Spark
and appendix B gives a brief overview of Gephi visualization software. In appendix C
you’ll find a number of online resources for additional information about GraphX
and where to go to keep up with latest developments. Finally, appendix D lists the
Scala tips given throughout the book.
Anyone new to Spark, Scala, or graphs should progress through the first five chap-
ters linearly. After that, you can pick and choose topics from the last five chapters.
Anyone who is expert in Spark, Scala, and graphs but new to GraphX can skip
chapter 3 and probably also chapter 5.
About the code
The source code for this book is available for download from manning.com at https://
www.manning.com/books/spark-graphx-in-action.
For the most part, the code presented in this book and available for download is
intended to be used with the interactive Spark shell. Thus, the .scala extension is tech-
nically a misnomer, as these files can’t be compiled with the scalac compiler.
Some examples are meant to be conventionally compiled and executed, and these
are always accompanied by a pom.xml for Maven or by a .sbt for sbt (Simple Build
Tool).
This book contains many examples of source code, both in numbered listings and
inline with normal text. In both cases, source code is formatted in a
fixed-width
font like this
to separate it from ordinary text.
In many cases, the original source code has been reformatted; we’ve added line
breaks and reworked indentation to accommodate the available page space in the book.
In rare cases, even this was not enough, and listings may include line-continuation
markers (
➥
). Additionally, comments in the source code have often been removed
from the listings when the code is described in the text. Code annotations accompany
many of the listings, highlighting important concepts.
The code for the examples in this book can be downloaded from the publisher’s
website at www.manning.com/books/spark-graphx-in-action.
Author Online
Purchase of Spark GraphX in Action includes free access to a private web forum run by
Manning Publications where you can make comments about the book, ask technical
questions, and receive help from the authors and from other users. To access the
forum and subscribe to it, point your web browser to www.manning.com/books/spark-
graphx-in-action. This page provides information on how to get on the forum once you
are registered, what kind of help is available, and the rules of conduct on the forum.