University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Enhancing computational notebooks with code+data space versioning

Fang, Hanxi

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129642

Description

Title
Enhancing computational notebooks with code+data space versioning
Author(s)
Fang, Hanxi
Issue Date
2025-05-09
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Park, Yongjoo
Department of Study
Siebel School Comp & Data Sci
Discipline
Computer Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • computational notebooks
  • version control systems
  • code+data version control
  • notebook kernel state checkpoints
  • interactive data science checkpoints
  • version control user interfaces
  • ai-agent
Abstract
There is a significant gap between how people explore data and how Jupyter-like computational notebooks are designed. People explore data nonlinearly, using execution undos, branching, and/or complete reverts, whereas computational notebooks are designed for sequential exploration only. Recent works like ForkIt are still insufficient to support these multiple modes of nonlinear exploration in a unified way. In this work, we address the challenge by proposing two-dimensional code+data space versioning for computational notebooks and verifying its effectiveness using our prototype, Kishuboard, which seamlessly integrates with Jupyter. By adjusting code and data knobs, users of Kishuboard can intuitively manage the state of computational notebooks in a flexible way, thereby achieving both execution rollbacks and checkouts across complex multi-branch exploration history. Moreover, this two-dimensional versioning mechanism can easily be presented along with a friendly one-dimensional history. Human-subject and LLM-agent-based studies indicate that Kishuboard can significantly enhance user productivity in various data science tasks
Graduation Semester
2025-05
Type of Resource
Thesis
Handle URL
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129642
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2025 Hanxi Fang

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Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois