xplor 0.1.3

A unified framework for Operation Research modeling with polars

xplor: A Modern DataFrame-Centric Optimization Framework

xplor provides a unified framework for building Operation Research models using polars DataFrames. By leveraging polars' performance and ergonomic API, xplor makes mathematical optimization more intuitive and maintainable.

Features

• 🚀 Polars Integration: Built on top of polars for high-performance data operations
• 🧩 Solver Agnostic: Designed to support multiple solvers (currently Gurobi, more coming soon)
• 📝 Intuitive API: Natural expression syntax for constraints and objectives
• ⚡ Vectorized Operations: Efficient model building with DataFrame operations
• 🔍 Type Hints: Full typing support for better IDE integration

Installation

pip install xplor

For Gurobi support, make sure you have Gurobi installed and licensed:

pip install gurobipy

Quick Start

Here's a simple example showing how to build and solve an optimization model using xplor:

import xplor.gurobi as pg
import polars as pl
import gurobipy as gp

# Create a model
model = gp.Model()

# Create sample data
df = pl.DataFrame({
    "i": [0, 0, 1, 2, 2],
    "j": [1, 2, 0, 0, 1],
    "u": [0.3, 1.2, 0.7, 0.9, 1.2],
    "c": [1.3, 1.7, 1.4, 1.1, 0.9],
    "obj": [2.5, 2.7, 1.2, 1.7, 3.9],
})

# Add variables and constraints
df = (
    df
    .pipe(pg.add_vars, model, name="x", ub="u", obj="obj", indices=["i", "j"])
    .pipe(pg.apply_eval, "y = 2 * x - c")
)

# Add constraints using grouped operations
(
    df
    .group_by("i")
    .agg(pg.quicksum("y"), pl.col("c").min())
    .pipe(pg.add_constrs, model, "y <= c", name="constr")
)

# Solve the model
model.optimize()

# Extract solution
solution = df.with_columns(pg.read_value("x"))

Current Status

xplor is in active development. Currently supported:

• ✅ Gurobi backend
• ✅ Basic model building operations
• ✅ Variable and constraint creation
• ✅ Expression evaluation
• ✅ Solution reading

Planned features:

• 🚧 Support for additional solvers (CPLEX, CBC, SCIP)
• 🚧 Extended modeling capabilities
• 🚧 Performance optimizations
• 🚧 More utility functions

Why xplor?

xplor aims to modernize the Operation Research workflow by:

1. Using polars instead of pandas for better performance and memory usage
2. Providing a consistent API across different solvers
3. Making model building more intuitive with DataFrame operations
4. Enabling better code organization and maintenance

Comparison with Other Tools

xplor is heavily inspired by gurobipy-pandas but differs in these key aspects:

• Uses polars instead of pandas for better performance
• Designed to be solver-agnostic from the ground up

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/gab23r/xplor.git
cd xplor

# Install development dependencies
uv sync --all-extras

# Run tests
pytest

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• gurobipy-pandas for inspiration
• polars for the amazing DataFrame library
• Gurobi for the optimization solver