KX, a global leader in vector-based and time-series data management, has added thousands of members within the KX Community, emphasizing the growing need for developer friendly education and tools that address high-frequency and large-volume data challenges across structured and unstructured data. Spearheaded by KX’s developer advocacy program, the community increases year-to-year since its inception in January 2022. This growth reflects KX’s commitment to supporting both its long-standing Capital Markets customers and the wider developer community, empowering developers to solve complex, real-world problems in building AI and analytics applications. To complement this initiative, KX has launched KXperts, a developer advocacy program that enables members to deepen their involvement and engage in thought leadership, collaboration and innovation.
“The developer experience is a core tenant of KX’s culture. We seek opportunities to deepen our connection with the developer community so we can provide a product and environment that delivers ongoing value,” said Neil Kanungo, VP of Product-Led Growth at KX. “The growth of our member base and the increasing engagement of KXperts illustrates that the developers within the builder community are eager to lead, contribute and mentor. We’re proud to provide an open, collaborative environment where developers can grow and work together to solve business challenges more effectively.”
The KX Community serves as a platform for a wide range of technical professionals, including data engineers, quants and data scientists, to engage in impactful projects and dialogue that support the growth of members, both personally and professionally, as well as influence the broader market. Community members have increasingly leveraged the uniquely elegant q programming language, and, most recently, PyKX, which brings together Python’s data science ecosystem and the power of KX’s time-series analytics and data processing speed. Over 5,000 developers download PyKX daily. The Visual Studio Code extension, that enables programmers to develop and maintain kdb data analytics applications with the popular VS Code IDE, brings a familiar development flow to users, allowing them to adopt KX technology quickly and seamlessly. Combined, these tools improve the accessibility of KX products, making it easier for members to solve complex, real-time data challenges in a multitude of industries, including Capital Markets, Aerospace and Defense, Hi-Tech Manufacturing, and Healthcare.
The newly launched KXperts program is a unique subcommunity of developer experts who are advocates for KX’s tools and technology. Members of the program unlock opportunities to contribute their expertise to technical content development, research, and events, and provide product feedback that informs KX’s research and development initiatives. Members receive the following benefits:
- KX Academy – Access to tutorials and educational courses that enable users to become technically proficient in KX architecture, q programming language, PyKX, SQL for kdb, KX Dashboards and the entire KX product suite. By the end of 2024, KX will have released six new free educational courses with certifications, bringing the total to over a dozen.
- Sandbox Environment – Enables members to trial most KX products and complete exercises, honing their skills and better familiarizing themselves with new product updates without the friction of upgrades or installations.
- Programming Tools – Developers can utilize KX’s Visual Studio Code extension and PyKX, which is available through popular open-source channels, to achieve flexibility of programming in either Python or q. These tools improve the developer experience by making KX products more intuitive, easier to use, and accessible.
- Slack Community – Moderated by KX’s in-house developers, this free Slack community connects members with experts and peers who are available to answer questions and engage in meaningful conversations.
“Those of us within the KXperts program are extremely passionate about the work we do every day and are motivated to further our engagement within the broader developer community,” said Alexander Unterrainer, with DefconQ, a kdb/q education blog. “Since becoming a member, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in speaking engagements alongside the KX team, and share my advice, experience and perspectives with a larger audience than I had access to prior.”
“Since I began my kdb journey, I’ve sought opportunities to share the lessons I’ve learned with others in the community. KX has supported this since day one,” said Jemima Morrish, a junior kdb developer at SRC UK. “Upon becoming a member of KXperts a couple months ago, I’ve been able to refine my channel so that I can serve more like a mentor for other young developers just kickstarting their career journeys. Helping them learn and grow has been the most fulfilling benefit.”
“I have become extremely proficient in the q programming language and kdb+ architecture thanks to the resources available from KX,” said Jesús López-González, VP Research at Habla Computing and a member of KXperts. “I’ve also had the opportunity to produce technical content hosted within the KX platform, and lead meetups, better known as ‘Everything Everywhere All With kdb/q,’ where I’ve contributed guidance to KX implementation and how to use the platform to address common challenges.”
The robust, active community is an added benefit to business leaders who prioritize onboarding technical solutions that support their development teams in streamlined onboarding of technology and continued advancement and proficiency. While the community continues to reach new growth milestones, this marks a significant step forward in the company’s efforts to scale and reach new developers, positioning KX as an increasingly accessible and open platform.
Register for the KX Community, apply for the KXperts program or join the Slack Community to start your involvement with the growing developer member base.
To learn more about all resources available to the developer community, please visit the Developer Center: https://kx.com/developer/
