[tubelite]

Yes, it is similar in spirit to IPython.

We have been developing pigshell off and on since ~2012, and I was unaware of IPython notebooks until ~6 months ago. When I'd last used IPython, it didn't have any of the notebook stuff. So it was a bit of a jar to see that they had been there, done that, got the T-shirt, published the book, etc. etc. :)

Pigshell can run in the browser with zero installation, and has a low barrier for casual usage. "Notebooks" aka gists can be shared without requiring a backend. The focus of pigshell is more around providing file adapters for web/cloud data stores.

That said - more power to IPython! I love the conversational, exploratory, CLI style of interacting with a computing environment. The more ecosystems of this sort, the better.