<s>
Kst	B-Language
is	O
a	O
plotting	O
and	O
data	O
viewing	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kst	B-Language
is	O
a	O
KDE	B-Application
application	O
and	O
is	O
freely	B-Application
available	O
for	O
anyone	O
to	O
download	O
and	O
use	O
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
noted	O
for	O
being	O
able	O
to	O
graph	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
data	O
acquisition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kst	B-Language
was	O
initially	O
developed	O
by	O
Barth	O
Netterfield	O
,	O
an	O
astrophysicist	O
as	O
a	O
personal	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kst	B-Language
is	O
written	O
in	O
C++	O
and	O
based	O
upon	O
the	O
Tk	O
tollkit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
kst	B-Language
is	O
a	O
fast	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
large-dataset	O
plotting	O
and	O
viewing	O
tool	O
with	O
basic	O
data	B-General_Concept
analysis	I-General_Concept
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
kst	B-Language
is	O
able	O
to	O
plot	O
histograms	O
and	O
3-D	O
with	O
color	O
and	O
contour	O
mapping	O
for	O
3-D	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kst	B-Language
has	O
been	O
chosen	O
where	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
need	O
to	O
present	O
plots	O
in	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Real-time	B-General_Concept
applications	I-General_Concept
vary	O
in	O
size	O
from	O
simple	O
graphing	O
of	O
a	O
sensor	O
from	O
a	O
microcontroller	B-Architecture
such	O
as	O
arduino	O
that	O
may	O
be	O
set	O
up	O
by	O
a	O
hobbyist	O
to	O
a	O
simple	O
sensor	O
to	O
plotting	O
of	O
real	O
time	O
date	O
from	O
the	O
Atacama	O
Cosmology	O
Telescope	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kst	B-Language
is	O
able	O
to	O
accept	O
a	O
number	O
input	O
formats	O
with	O
Dirfiles	O
being	O
particularly	O
suitable	O
for	O
streaming	O
applications	O
and	O
plug-in	O
extension	O
filters	O
enabling	O
other	O
input	O
stream	O
types	O
and	O
file	O
formats	O
to	O
be	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tool	O
offers	O
a	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
termed	O
KstScript	O
based	O
upon	O
JavaScript	B-Language
syntax	O
which	O
can	O
help	O
automate	O
workflows	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
alternatives	O
include	O
MATLAB	B-Language
,	O
Qtiplot	B-Language
,	O
SciDAVis	B-Language
,	O
Grace	B-Application
and	O
LabPlot	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
developing	O
the	O
kst	B-Language
application	O
a	O
spin-off	O
was	O
the	O
emergence	O
of	O
the	O
Dirfile	O
file	O
format	O
standard	O
for	O
time-ordered	O
binary	O
data	O
in	O
an	O
efficient	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
developed	O
under	O
the	O
Getdata	O
project	O
into	O
an	O
independent	O
standard	O
with	O
its	O
own	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
