NetworkX:

Network Analysis with Python

Salvatore Scellato

Full tutorial presented at the XXX SunBelt Conference

“NetworkX introduction: Hacking social networks using the Python programming language”
by Aric Hagberg & Drew Conway
Outline

1. Introduction to NetworkX

2. Getting started with Python and NetworkX

3. Basic network analysis

4. Writing your own code

5. You are ready for your project!

1. Introduction to NetworkX.
Introduction to NetworkX - network analysis

Vast amounts of network data are being generated and collected

• Sociology: web pages, mobile phones, social networks
• Technology: Internet routers, vehicular flows, power grids
How can we analyze this networks?
Introduction to NetworkX - Python awesomeness
Introduction to
NetworkX

“Python package for the creation,

manipulation and study of the
structure, dynamics and functions of
complex networks.”

• Data structures for representing many

types of networks, or graphs
• Nodes can be any (hashable) Python
object, edges can contain arbitrary data
• Flexibility ideal for representing
networks found in many different fields
• Easy to install on multiple platforms
• Online up-to-date documentation
• First public release in April 2005
Introduction to NetworkX - design requirements

• Tool to study the structure and dynamics of social, biological, and infrastructure
networks

• Ease-of-use and rapid development in a collaborative, multidisciplinary

environment

• Easy to learn, easy to teach

• Open-source tool base that can easily grow in a multidisciplinary environment

with non-expert users and developers

• An easy interface to existing code bases written in C, C++, and FORTRAN

• To painlessly slurp in large nonstandard data sets

Introduction to NetworkX - object model

NetworkX defines no custom node objects or edge objects

• node-centric view of network
• nodes can be any hashable object, while edges are tuples with optional edge
data (stored in dictionary)
• any Python object is allowed as edge data and it is assigned and stored in a
Python dictionary (default empty)

NetworkX is all based on Python

• Instead, other projects use custom compiled code and Python: Boost Graph,
igraph, Graphviz
• Focus on computational network modeling not software tool development
• Move fast to design new algorithms or models
• Get immediate results
Introduction to NetworkX - how to choose

When USE NetworkX to perform network analysis?

• Unlike many other tools, it is designed to handle data on a scale relevant to

modern problems.
• Most of the core algorithms rely on extremely fast legacy code
• Highly flexible graph implementations (a graph/node can be anything!)
• Extensive set of native readable and writable formats
• Takes advantage of Python’s ability to pull data from the Internet or databases

When AVOID NetworkX to perform network analysis?

• Large-scale problems that require faster approaches (i.e. Facebook/Twitter
whole social network...)
• Better use of resources/threads than Python
Introduction to NetworkX - quick example
Use Dijkstra’s algorithm to find the shortest path in a weighted and
unweighted network:

>>> g = nx.Graph()
>>> g.add_edge(’a’,’b’,weight=0.1)
>>> g.add_edge(’b’,’c’,weight=1.5)
>>> g.add_edge(’a’,’c’,weight=1.0)
>>> g.add_edge(’c’,’d’,weight=2.2)
>>> print nx.shortest_path(g,’b’,’d’)
[’b’, ’c’, ’d’]
>>> print nx.shortest_path(g,’b’,’d’,weighted=True)
[’b’, ’a’, ’c’, ’d’]
Introduction to NetworkX - online resources

Online documentation and active mailing list with helpful developers and
contributors.
Introduction to NetworkX - Python’s Holy Trinity

Python’s primary library NumPy is an extension matplotlib is primary

for mathematical and of the SciPy data type plotting library in
statistical computing. to include Python
Containing sub-libs for multidimensional • Supports 2- and 3-D
• Numeric optimization arrays and matrices. plotting
• Linear algebra Provides many • API allows embedding
functions for working in apps
• ..and many others
on arrays and matrices.
The primary data type All plots are highly
Both SciPy and NumPy customizable and ready
in SciPy is an array, so
rely on the C library for professional
data manipulation is
LAPACK for very fast publication.
similar to that of
implementation.
MATLAB.
Introduction to NetworkX - drawing and plotting

• It is possible to draw within NetworkX and to export network data and draw
with other programs (i.e., GraphViz, matplotlib)
Introduction to NetworkX - official website

http://networkx.lanl.gov/
2. Getting started with Python and NetworkX.
Getting started - import NetworkX

Start Python (interactive or script mode) and import NetworkX:

>>> import networkx as nx

There are different Graph classes for undirected and directed networks. Let’s
create a basic Graph class

>>> g = nx.Graph()

The graph g can be grown in several ways. NetworkX includes many graph
generator functions and facilities to read and write graphs in many formats.
Getting started - add nodes

# One node at a time

>>> g.add_node(1) # method of nx.Graph

# A list of nodes
>>> g.add_nodes_from([2 ,3])

# A container of nodes
>>> h = nx.path_graph(10)
>>> g.add_nodes_from(H) # g now contains the nodes of h

# In contrast, you can remove any node of the graph

>>> g.remove_node(2)
Getting started - node entities

A node can be any hashable object such as strings, numbers, files, functions,
and more. This provides important flexibility for all your projects.

>>> import math

>>> g.add_node(math.cos) # cosine function
>>> fh=open(’tmp.txt’,’w’)
>>> g.add_node(fh) # file handle
>>> print g.nodes()
[<built-in function cos>, <open file ’tmp.txt’, mode ’w’
at 0x30dc38>]
Getting started - add edges

# Single edge
>>> g.add_edge(1,2)
>>> e=(2,3)
>>> g.add_edge(*e) # unpack edge tuple

# List of edges
>>> g.add_edges_from([(1 ,2) ,(1 ,3)])

# Container of edges
>>> g.add_edges_from(h.edges())

# In contrast, you can remove any edge of the graph

>>> g.remove_edge(1,2)
Getting started - access nodes and edges

>>> g.add_edges_from([(1 ,2) ,(1 ,3)])

>>> g.add_node(‘a’)
>>> g.number_of_nodes() # also g.order()
4
>>> g.number_of_edges() # also g.size()
2
>>> g.nodes()
[1, 2, 3, ‘a’]
>>> g.edges()
[(1, 2), (1, 3)]
>>> g.neighbors(1)
[2, 3]
>>> g.degree(1)
2
Getting started - access nodes and edges

Any NetworkX graph behaves like a Python dictionary with nodes as primary keys

>>> g.add_node(1, time=’5pm’)

>>> g.node[1][’time’]
’5pm’
>>> g.node[1] # Python dictionary
{’time’: ’5pm’}

The special edge attribute ’weight’ should always be numeric and holds values used by
algorithms requiring weighted edges.

>>> g.add_edge(1, 2, weight=4.0 )

>>> g[1][2][‘weight’] = 5.0 # edge already added
>>> g[1][2]
{‘weight’: 5.0}
Getting started - node and edge iterators

Many applications require iteration over nodes or over edges: simple and easy in
NetworkX
>>> g.add_edge(1,2)
>>> for node in g.nodes():
print node, g.degree(node)
1, 1
2, 1

>>> g.add_edge(1,3,weight=2.5)
>>> g[1][2][‘weight’] = 1.5
>>> for n1,n2,attr in g.edges(data=True):
print n1,n2,attr[‘weight’]
1, 2, 1.5
1, 3, 2.5
Getting started - directed graphs

>>> dg = nx.DiGraph()
>>> dg.add_weighted_edges_from([(1,4,0.5), (3,1,0.75)])
>>> dg.out_degree(1,weighted=True)
0.5
>>> dg.degree(1,weighted=True)
1.25
>>> dg.successors(1)
[4]
>>> dg.predecessors(1)
[3]

Some algorithms work only for directed graphs and others are not well defined for
directed graphs. If you want to treat a directed graph as undirected for some
measurement you should probably convert it using Graph.to_undirected()
Getting started - multigraphs

NetworkX provides classes for graphs which allow multiple edges between any pair
of nodes, MultiGraph and MultiDiGraph.
This can be powerful for some applications, but many algorithms are not well
defined on such graphs: shortest path is one example.
Where results are not well defined you should convert to a standard graph in a way
that makes the measurement well defined.

>>> mg = nx.MultiGraph()
>>> mg.add_weighted_edges_from([(1,2,.5), (1,2,.75),
(2,3,.5)])
>>> mg.degree(weighted=True)
{1: 1.25, 2: 1.75, 3: 0.5}
Getting started - graph operators

Classic graph operations

subgraph(G, nbunch) - induce subgraph of G on nodes in nbunch
union(G1,G2) - graph union
disjoint_union(G1,G2) - graph union assuming all nodes are different
cartesian_product(G1,G2) - return Cartesian product graph
compose(G1,G2) - combine graphs identifying nodes common to both
complement(G) - graph complement
create_empty_copy(G) - return an empty copy of the same graph class
convert_to_undirected(G) - return an undirected representation of G
convert_to_directed(G) - return a directed representation of G
Getting started - graph generators
# small famous graphs
>>> petersen=nx.petersen_graph()
>>> tutte=nx.tutte_graph()
>>> maze=nx.sedgewick_maze_graph()
>>> tet=nx.tetrahedral_graph()

# classic graphs
>>> K_5=nx.complete_graph(5)
>>> K_3_5=nx.complete_bipartite_graph(3,5)
>>> barbell=nx.barbell_graph(10,10)
>>> lollipop=nx.lollipop_graph(10,20)

# random graphs
>>> er=nx.erdos_renyi_graph(100,0.15)
>>> ws=nx.watts_strogatz_graph(30,3,0.1)
>>> ba=nx.barabasi_albert_graph(100,5)
>>> red=nx.random_lobster(100,0.9,0.9)
Getting started - graph I/O

NetworkX is able to read/write graphs from/to files using common graph formats:
• edge lists
• adjacency lists
• GML
• GEXF
• Python pickle
• GraphML
• Pajek
• LEDA
• YAML

We will see how to read/write edge lists.

Getting started - read and write edge lists
General read/write format
>>> g = nx.read_format(“path/to/file.txt”,...options...)
>>> nx.write_format(g,“path/to/file.txt”,...options...)

Read and write edge lists

g = nx.read_edgelist(path,comments='#',create_using=None,
delimiter=' ', nodetype=None, data=True, edgetype=None,
encoding='utf-8')
nx.write_edgelist(g,path,comments='#',delimiter=' ',data=True,encoding='utf-8')

Formats
• Node pairs with no data:
1 2
• Python dictionary as data:
1 2 {'weight':7, 'color':'green'}
• Arbitrary data:
1 2 7 green
Getting started - draw a graph

NetworkX is not primarily a graph drawing package but it provides basic drawing
capabilities by using Matplotlib. For more complex visualization techniques it
provides an interface to use the open source Graphviz software package.

>>> import pylab as plt #import Matplotlib plotting interface

>>> g = nx.erdos_renyi_graph(100,0.15)
>>> nx.draw(g)
>>> nx.draw_random(g)
>>> nx.draw_circular(g)
>>> nx.draw_spectral(g)
>>> plt.savefig(‘graph.png’)

Note that the drawing package in NetworkX is not (yet!) compatible with Python
versions 3.0 and above.
3. Basic network analysis.
Basic network analysis - graph properties

Let’s load the Hartford drug users network: it’s a directed graph with integers as
nodes.

hartford = nx.read_edgelist('hartford.txt',
create_using=nx.DiGraph(),nodetype=int)

N,K = hartford.order(), hartford.size()

avg_deg = float(K)/N
print "Nodes: ", N
print "Edges: ", K
print "Average degree: ", avg_deg
Basic network analysis - Python dictionaries

NetworkX takes advantage of Python dictionaries to store node and edge measures.
The dict type is a data structure that represents a key-value mapping.

# Keys and values can be of any data type

>>> fruit_dict={"apple":1,"orange":[0.23,0.11],42:True}
# Can retrieve the keys and values as Python lists (vector)
>>> fruit_dict.keys()
[ "orange" , "apple" , 42 ]
# Or create a (key,value) tuple
>>> fruit_dict.items()
[("orange",[0.23,0.11]),("apple",1),(42,True)]
# This becomes especially useful when you master Python list-
comprehension
Basic network analysis - degree distribution

Let’s compute in- and out-degree distribution of the graph and plot them. Don’t try this method
with massive graphs, it’s slow...!

in_degrees = hartford.in_degree() # dictionary node:degree

in_values = sorted(set(in_degrees.values()))
in_hist = [in_degrees.values().count(x) for x in in_values]

plt.figure()
plt.plot(in_values,in_hist,'ro-') # in-degree
plt.plot(out_values,out_hist,'bv-') # out-degree
plt.legend(['In-degree','Out-degree'])
plt.xlabel('Degree')
plt.ylabel('Number of nodes')
plt.title('Hartford drug users network')
plt.savefig('hartford_degree_distribution.pdf')
plt.close()
Basic network analysis - degree distribution
Basic network analysis - node centralities
Now, we will convert the graph to an undirected network and extract the main connected component;
then we will compute node centrality measures.

hartford_ud = hartford.to_undirected()

hartford_components =
nx.connected_component_subgraphs(hartford_ud)
hartford_mc = hartford_components[0]

# Betweenness centrality
bet_cen = nx.betweenness_centrality(hartford_mc)
# Closeness centrality
clo_cen = nx.closeness_centrality(hartford_mc)
# Eigenvector centrality
eig_cen = nx.eigenvector_centrality(hartford_mc)
Basic network analysis - most central nodes

To find the most central nodes we will use Python’s list comprehension technique to do
basic data manipulation on our centrality dictionaries.

def highest_centrality(cent_dict):
"""Returns a tuple (node,value) with the node
with largest value from Networkx centrality dictionary."""
# Create ordered tuple of centrality data
cent_items=[(b,a) for (a,b) in cent_dict.iteritems()]

# Sort in descending order

cent_items.sort()
cent_items.reverse()

return tuple(reversed(cent_items[0]))
Basic network analysis - plotting results

Recall Python’s scientific computing trinity: NumPy, SciPy and matplotlib.

While NumPy and SciPy do most of the behind the scenes work, you will interact
with matplotlib frequently when doing network analysis.

We will need to create a function that takes

two centrality dict and generates this plot:

1. Create a matplotlib figure

2. Plot each node label as a point
3. Add a linear best-fit trend
4. Add axis and title labels
5. Save figure on a file
Basic network analysis - plotting results

def centrality_scatter(dict1,dict2,path="",
ylab="",xlab="",title="",line=False):
# Create figure and drawing axis
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(7,7))
ax1 = fig.add_subplot(111)

# Create items and extract centralities

items1 = sorted(dict1.items())
items2 = sorted(dict2.items())
xdata=[b for a,b in items1]
ydata=[b for a,b in items2]

# Add each actor to the plot by ID

for p in xrange(len(items1)):
ax1.text(x=xdata[p], y=ydata[p],s=str(items1[p][0]), color="b")
Basic network analysis - plotting results
...continuing....

if line:
# use NumPy to calculate the best fit
slope, yint = plt.polyfit(xdata,ydata,1)
xline = plt.xticks()[0]
yline = map(lambda x: slope*x+yint,xline)
ax1.plot(xline,yline,ls='--',color='b')

# Set new x- and y-axis limits

plt.xlim((0.0,max(xdata)+(.15*max(xdata))))
plt.ylim((0.0,max(ydata)+(.15*max(ydata))))
# Add labels and save
ax1.set_title(title)
ax1.set_xlabel(xlab)
ax1.set_ylabel(ylab)
plt.savefig(path)
Basic network analysis - export results

Even though NetworkX and the complementing scientific computing packages in

Python are powerful, it may often be useful or necessary to output your data for
additional analysis because:
• suite of tools lacks your specific need
• you require alternative visualization
• you want to store results for later analysis

In most cases this will entail either exporting the raw network data, or metrics from
some network analysis
1. NetworkX can write out network data in as many formats as it can read them,
and the process is equally straightforward
2. When you want to export metrics we can use Python’s built-in XML and CSV
libraries
Basic network analysis - write results to file

Let’s export a CSV file with node IDs and the related centrality values on each line:
this can be then used to plot without computing again all centrality measures.

results = [(k,bet_cen[k],clo_cen[k],eig_cen[k])
for k in hartford_mc]
f = open('hartford_results.txt','w')
for item in results:
f.write(','.join(map(str,item)))
f.write('\n')
f.close()
4. Writing your own code.
Write your own code - BFS

With Python and NetworkX it’s easy to write any graph-based algorithm

from collections import deque

def breadth_first_search(g, source):

queue = deque([(None, source)])
enqueued = set([source])
while queue:
parent,n = queue.popleft()
yield parent,n
new = set(g[n]) − enqueued
enqueued |= new
queue.extend([(n, child) for child in new])
Write your own code - network triads

Extract all unique triangles in a graph with integer node IDs

def get_triangles(g):
for n1 in g.nodes:
neighbors1 = set(g[n1])
for n2 in filter(lambda x: x>n1, nodes):
neighbors2 = set(g[n2])
common = neighbors1 & neighbors2
for n3 in filter(lambda x: x>n2, common):
yield n1,n2,n3
Write your own code - average neighbours’ degree

Compute the average degree of each node’s neighbours (long and one-liner version).

def avg_neigh_degree(g):
data = {}
for n in g.nodes():
if g.degree(n):
data[n] = float(sum(g.degree(i) for i in g[n]))/
g.degree(n)
return data

def avg_neigh_degree(g):
return dict((n,float(sum(g.degree(i) for i in g[n]))/
g.degree(n)) for n in g.nodes() if g.degree(n))
5.You are ready for your project!
What you have learnt today about NetworkX

• How to create graphs from scratch, with generators and by loading local data

• How to compute basic network measures, how they are stored in NetworkX
and how to manipulate them with list comprehension

• Getting data out of NetworkX as raw network data or analytics

• How to use matplotlib to visualize and plot results (useful for final report!)

• Network visualization techniques in NetworkX

• How to use and include NetworkX features to design your own algorithms/
analysis
Useful links
Thanks!
Questions?
Salvatore Scellato

Email: [email protected]
Web: www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~ss824/
Twitter: @thetarro
Foursquare: thetarro

Flickr: sean dreilinger