gnuplot ☆

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Description:
Command-driven, interactive function plotting

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 6.0.3@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 20, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: plotting visualization graphing scientific data-analysis math

Install: brew install gnuplot

About:
Gnuplot is a command-line driven graphing utility originally developed to enable scientists and mathematicians to visualize mathematical functions and data. It supports 2D and 3D plotting, offers script-based automation for batch processing, and can generate high-quality output for papers and presentations. Its versatility allows it to function as a calculator or be embedded in scripts for automated data visualization pipelines.

Key Features:

Supports 2D and 3D plotting with various projection and surface types
Extensive output format support including PNG, PDF, SVG, and LaTeX
Scriptable interface for automation and batch processing
Can be used as a calculator or embedded in other programming languages
Cross-platform with consistent behavior across Linux, macOS, and Windows

Use Cases:

Visualizing scientific data and mathematical functions for research and analysis
Generating publication-quality graphs and charts for papers and presentations
Automating data visualization in shell scripts and CI/CD pipelines
Quickly prototyping and exploring data interactively from the terminal

Alternatives:

matplotlib – Python library offering deep integration with the Python data science ecosystem and more interactive GUIs.
plotly – Web-based library focused on interactive, high-level charts and dashboards, often requiring a browser environment.
pgfplots – LaTeX package that produces high-quality vector graphics directly within LaTeX documents, but requires compilation.

Version History

Detected	Version	Change	Commit
Dec 20, 2025 7:57am	6.0.3	VERSION_BUMP	8568e553
Oct 9, 2025 10:50pm		VERSION_BUMP	3740d132
Sep 18, 2025 4:39am		VERSION_BUMP	8d10bd59