pivotal-lang 0.3.0

A pipeline-oriented data transformation DSL for Python and Jupyter

Pivotal

Pivotal is a data analysis language for Python. It offers a concise syntax for common data operations that compiles to Pandas, Polars or DuckDB code. With comprehensive JupyterLab and VS Code support (syntax highlighting, autocomplete, interactive viewer and GUI controls) Pivotal provides a friendly entry point to the Python data ecosystem.

A live-demo of Pivotal in Jupyter Lab is available via Binder:

Features

Readable, Writable syntax — write data transformations in a simple declarative syntax

Multiple backends — compile to Pandas (default), Polars or in-process DuckDB (SQL)

JupyterLab and VS Code integration — syntax highlighting, autocomplete, %%pivotal cell magic, interactive object viewer and explorer, GUI controls

Plotting and tables — simple syntax for charts and publication-ready tables via matplotlib and Great Tables

Data packages — export all output (DataFrames, charts, tables) to a single Frictionless data package

---

Installation

pip install pivotal-lang

This installs the full feature set — Pandas, Polars, DuckDB, Great Tables.

For a minimal Pandas-only install:

pip install --no-deps pivotal-lang
pip install lark pandas matplotlib

JupyterLab extension

pip install pivotal-lab

VS Code extension

Install from the VS Code Marketplace, or build locally from editors/vscode.

---

Documentation

Full documentation including the complete syntax reference, backend guide, and API reference:

nealbob.github.io/pivotal-py

---

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or pull request on GitHub.

---

License

MIT

---

Authors

Neal Hughes

---

Version History

• v0.1.0 — Initial release

• v0.2.0 — Breaking grammar changes and major new features

  • Breaking: df <name> renamed to with <name>; copy syntax changed from df <name> from <source> to with <source> as <name>
  • Breaking: load syntax flipped from load <name> "path" to load "path" as <name>
  • New from statement for database connections (SQLite, DuckDB, SQLAlchemy URIs)
  • Full VS Code extension: data viewer, Python↔VS Code bridge, snippets with tab-stops, hover documentation
  • Improved error messages: friendly syntax errors, semantic validator (unknown table/column detection), runtime error filter with expandable tracebacks
  • AG Grid viewer: polished UI, column auto-fit, cell text selection, column pin menu
  • VS Code viewer opens in a horizontal split; quick-open command (Ctrl+Shift+O) to search all loaded data, charts and tables
  • Full install by default — dropped pivotal[all] extras syntax

• v0.3.0 — New language features and fixes

  • else clause in conditional assignments: col = expr where condition else default
  • else default branch in multi-case (where / where / else) assignments
  • Scalar min() and max() in column expressions, supported across all backends
  • Fixed syntax highlighting gaps in VS Code and JupyterLab extensions
  • Fixed Pygments lexer missing keywords (else, end, and others)

---

Contact & Support

For questions, issues, or feature requests please open an issue on GitHub or contact [e-mail].