AG Grid vs Datatable?

Dash Python
1

Hi everyone!

Can anyone explain, what is the difference between DataTable vs AG Grid?

I have been using DataTable so far and I am trying to figure out of AG Grid is worth switching to.

Does AG Grid have an performance or customization advantages? Or maybe some disatvantages?
Are there situations where one is better than the other?

Thanks in advance for any thoghts and recommendations.

Kind regards.

1 Like
2

Hi @mrel !

Here are good starting points for the comparison:

(Thanks @adamschroeder and @alexcjohnson ! :slight_smile: )

I didn’t use dataTable that much, but I can tell there are loooot of features available with Dash AG Grid.
That’s a wrapper around AG Grid, to use it in Dash.
I guess AG Grid is much more advanced than dataTable as it is their core project, whereas Plotly is not focused on the development of dataTable.

About performance, I didn’t notice any issues, as AG Grid states in their docs, the default client-side row model can handle +100k rows, rendering ~40 rows at a time that are visible.

In case there are performance issues, it is possible to use another row model, like infinite rows, that loads data as the user is scrolling.

3 Likes
3

Thanks a lot for sharing the video and your personal experience.
It seems like AG Grid is indeed more customizable anf flexible.

I noticed that following two things are not available in AG Grid (non-Enterprise), but available in DataTable:

  1. server-side row modes/paging
  2. Export the table to Excel

For the first one you even explained that client-side can handly 100k rows and infinity row option is also available. Thanks for the info!
The the export-to-Excel thing, I thing we can figure out something else (e.g. sql-to-Excel or something like that).

1 Like
4

Hi, export to csv with or without filtering is also available out of the box in the community version of Dash AG grid. Excel is available in Enterprise (obviously you can implement it also quite easily with external libraries)
Have used Datatable for some years, but switched now completely to Dash AG Grid.
Extreme awesome product and many thanks to the Dash team to make it available for us!!!

3 Likes
5

Indeed, export to excel is an AG Grid enterprise feature, but if you have a licence, you can also use this feature with Dash AG Grid.
The dash docs for this feature should come soon :wink:

1 Like
6

Just going to pipe in too, you can always make your excel file with a dcc.download. Haha.

It’s what I do. XD

3 Likes
7

@Werner , that’s actually great. Because export-to-Excel is not available, I assumed that CSV is the same.
Good to hear that export-to-CSV is available.

Thanks for sharing!

8

@jinnyzor , yeah, was thinking the same, there are a few ways to get around the lack of export-to-Excel thing. Not really worried about it xD

9

To get an overview what all is possible in Dash AG grid I highly recommend to go through all the examples provided in @AnnMarieW fantastic repo GitHub - plotly/dash-ag-grid . Well worth spent hours!!!

3 Likes
10

Hi @Werner

While I did make a lot of those examples - that’s a Plotly repo, and I was a contributor. :slight_smile:

Those examples (and more! thanks to @Skiks contributions) are now all available in the dash-docs:

Most of the examples are based on the upstream AG Grid docs. Note that the dash-docs are still a work in progress, and they include only a fraction of what’s possible in Dash AG Grid. You can find out more about AG Grid here:

4 Likes
11

HI @mrel

For the Community (free) version of a server-side mode with paging, see the Infinite Row Model section:

2 Likes
12

@AnnMarieW , thank you for all the contribution and help!

1 Like