Getting started
PLANit comes either as a Java API or as a Python API. It depends on your needs which one will suit you best. To help you make the best decision we provide you with some key differences and similarities between PLANit-Python and PLANit-Java.
In general though, we recommend anyone interested only in running some traffic assignments to opt for the Python implementation because of its ease of use and easy installation procedure.
Quick links:
- Planit-Python Getting started, the Python specific getting started
- Planit-Java Getting started , the Java specific getting started
PLANit-Python
Some key features
- Focussed on traffic assignment applications
- Minimal configuration effort
- Minimal programming knowledge required
- Maximum simplicity
- Support for PLANit native input format for networks, demand, and zoning structure
- Support for PLANit native output format for persistence of results to disk
- Support for PLANit memory output format for access of results in Python directly
What PLANit-Python does not do
- Access to stand-alone algorithms and components
- Embedding of custom implementations of PLANit components (for example a custom input/output pipeline)
- Separation between assignments and projects, in PLANit-Python the assignment is the project
- PLANit-Python is a wrapper around the Java code base, it is therefore inevitably slightly less efficient
- No graphical user interface
If you choose to use PLANit-Python continue with
PLANit-Java
Some key features
- It can do everything PLANit-Python can do
- Potentially better performance than PLANit-Python
- More configuration possibilities than PLANit-Python
- Support for third-party components to be integrated (input format, output format, assignment algorithms, path choice, etc.)
- Separation between projects and assignments, allowing the user to structure multiple assignments in the same project
- Access to stand-alone algorithms used in traffic simulation, (shortest-path, MSA, etc.)
- Access to all traffic assignment components programmatically
Note that there already exist some extensions implemented for PLANit, most notably support for the TNTP format (see also data formats)
What PLANit-Java does not do
- No graphical user interface
- It requires some programming knowledge
- less streamlined installation process
If you choose to use PLANit-Python continue with