# An overview of the RDKit

## What is it?

### Open source toolkit for cheminformatics
-   Business-friendly BSD license
-   Core data structures and algorithms in C++
-   Python 3.x wrappers generated using Boost.Python
-   Java and C\# wrappers generated with SWIG
-   2D and 3D molecular operations
-   Descriptor generation for machine learning
-   Molecular database cartridge for PostgreSQL
-   Cheminformatics nodes for KNIME (distributed from the KNIME community site: https://www.knime.com/rdkit)

### Operational:
- http://www.rdkit.org
- Supports Mac/Windows/Linux
- Releases every 6 months
- Web presence:
    - Homepage: http://www.rdkit.org
      Documentation, links
    - Github (https://github.com/rdkit)
      Downloads, bug tracker, git repository
    - Sourceforge (http://sourceforge.net/projects/rdkit)
      Mailing lists
    - Blog (https://rdkit.blogspot.com)
      Tips, tricks, random stuff
    - Tutorials (https://github.com/rdkit/rdkit-tutorials)
      Jupyter-based tutorials for using the RDKit
    - KNIME integration (https://github.com/rdkit/knime-rdkit)
      RDKit nodes for KNIME
- Mailing lists at https://sourceforge.net/p/rdkit/mailman/, searchable archives available for [rdkit-discuss](http://www.mail-archive.com/rdkit-discuss@lists.sourceforge.net/) and [rdkit-devel](http://www.mail-archive.com/rdkit-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/)
- Social media:
    - Twitter: @RDKit_org
    - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8192558
    - Slack: https://rdkit.slack.com (invite required, contact Greg)

### History:
-   2000-2006: Developed and used at Rational Discovery for building predictive models for ADME, Tox, biological activity
-   June 2006: Open-source (BSD license) release of software, Rational Discovery shuts down
-   to present: Open-source development continues, use within Novartis, contributions from Novartis back to open-source version

## Integration with other open-source projects
- [KNIME](https://www.knime.com/rdkit): Workflow and analytics tool
- [PostgreSQL](https://github.com/rdkit/rdkit/blob/master/Docs/Book/Cartridge.rst): Extensible relational database
- [Django](http://django-rdkit.readthedocs.org/en/latest/): "The web framework for perfectionists with deadlines"
- [SQLite](https://github.com/rvianello/chemicalite) - "The most used database engine in the world"
- [Lucene](https://github.com/rdkit/org.rdkit.lucene): Text-search engine [1](#footnote1)

## Usage by other open-source projects
This will, inevitably, be out of date. If you know of others, please let us know or submit a pull request!

- [stk](https://github.com/lukasturcani/stk) ([docs](https://lukasturcani.github.io/stk/docs/build/html/), [paper](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcc.25377)) -
a Python library for building, manipulating, analyzing and automatic design of molecules.
- [gpusimilarity](https://github.com/schrodinger/gpusimilarity) - A Cuda/Thrust implementation of fingerprint similarity searching
- [Samson Connect](https://www.samson-connect.net) - Software for adaptive modeling and simulation of nanosystems
- [mol_frame](https://github.com/apahl/mol_frame) - Chemical Structure Handling for Dask and Pandas DataFrames
- [RDKitjs](https://github.com/cheminfo/RDKitjs) - port of RDKit functionality to JavaScript
- [DeepChem](https://deepchem.io) - python library for deep learning for chemistry
- [mmpdb](https://github.com/rdkit/mmpdb) - Matched molecular pair database generation and analysis
- [CheTo](https://github.com/rdkit/CheTo) ([paper](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jcim.7b00249))- Chemical topic modeling
- [OCEAN](https://github.com/rdkit/OCEAN) ([paper](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jcim.6b00067))- Optimized cross reactivity estimation
- [ChEMBL Beaker](https://github.com/mnowotka/chembl_beaker) - standalone web server wrapper for RDKit and OSRA
- [myChEMBL](https://github.com/chembl/mychembl) ([blog post](http://chembl.blogspot.de/2013/10/chembl-virtual-machine-aka-mychembl.html), [paper](http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/11/20/bioinformatics.btt666)) - A virtual machine implementation of open data and cheminformatics tools
- [ZINC](http://zinc15.docking.org) - Free database of commercially-available compounds for virtual screening
- [sdf_viewer.py](https://github.com/apahl/sdf_viewer) - an interactive SDF viewer
- [sdf2ppt](https://github.com/dkuhn/sdf2ppt) - Reads an SDFile and displays molecules as image grid in powerpoint/openoffice presentation.
- [MolGears](https://github.com/admed/molgears) - A cheminformatics tool for bioactive molecules
- [PYPL](http://www.biochemfusion.com/downloads/#OracleUtilities) - Simple cartridge that lets you call Python scripts from Oracle PL/SQL.
- [shape-it-rdkit](https://github.com/jandom/shape-it-rdkit) - Gaussian molecular overlap code shape-it (from silicos it) ported to RDKit backend
- [WONKA](http://wonka.sgc.ox.ac.uk/WONKA/) - Tool for analysis and interrogation of protein-ligand crystal structures
- [OOMMPPAA](http://oommppaa.sgc.ox.ac.uk/OOMMPPAA/) - Tool for directed synthesis and data analysis based on protein-ligand crystal structures
- [OCEAN](https://github.com/rdkit/OCEAN) - web-tool for target-prediction of chemical structures which uses ChEMBL as datasource
- [chemfp](http://chemfp.com) - very fast fingerprint searching
- [rdkit_ipynb_tools](https://github.com/apahl/rdkit_ipynb_tools) - RDKit Tools for the IPython Notebook
- [Vernalis KNIME nodes](https://www.knime.com/book/vernalis-nodes-for-knime-trusted-extension)
- [Erlwood KNIME nodes](https://www.knime.com/community/erlwood)
- [AZOrange](https://github.com/AZcompTox/AZOrange)


## The Contrib Directory

The Contrib directory, part of the standard RDKit distribution, includes code that has been contributed by members of the community.


## Footnotes

<a name="footnote1">1</a>: These implementations are functional but are not necessarily the best, fastest, or most complete.


## License

This document is copyright (C) 2013-2018 by Greg Landrum

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/> or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

The intent of this license is similar to that of the RDKit itself. In simple words: “Do whatever you want with it, but please give us some credit.”