Q in the Wild

A kdb+/q developer's guide to integrating with the rest of the world.

You know Q. You know it's fast. You know it eats time-series data for breakfast and asks for seconds. What you might not know is how to make it talk to Python without wanting to flip a table, how to expose it as a REST API without crying, or why your Rust FFI attempt keeps segfaulting in a way that feels personal.

This book fixes that.

Q in the Wild is a practical, code-first guide to integrating kdb+/q with everything else: Python, Rust, R, web frameworks, streaming platforms, REST APIs, and the IDE that won't make you feel like it's 2003. It assumes you know Q. It doesn't assume you know everything else.

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Table of Contents

1. Q in the Wild: Breaking Out of the Silo
2. Python and Q: PyQ, qPython, and Getting Along
3. Rust and Q: FFI, IPC, and High-Performance Integration
4. R and Q: Statistical Power Meets Time-Series Performance
5. IDE Support: What Actually Works in 2026
6. Web Frameworks and Q: Serving Data to the Outside World
7. Q IPC Deep Dive: The Protocol, the Patterns, and the Pitfalls
8. REST and Q: Building APIs Around kdb+/q
9. Streaming Integrations: Kafka, WebSockets, and Real-Time Q
10. Developer Tooling: Linters, Formatters, and Making Q Less Lonely
11. Where to Go From Here

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Read Online

The book is published at: https://cloudstreet-dev.github.io/Q-in-the-Wild/

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Building Locally

Prerequisites

Install mdBook:

cargo install mdbook

Or via a package manager:

# macOS
brew install mdbook

# Linux (via cargo)
cargo install mdbook

Build

git clone https://github.com/cloudstreet-dev/Q-in-the-Wild.git
cd Q-in-the-Wild
mdbook build

The output is in ./book/. Open book/index.html in a browser.

Serve with Live Reload

mdbook serve --open

This starts a local server at http://localhost:3000 and rebuilds on file changes. Useful when writing or editing chapters.

Clean

mdbook clean

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Contributing

Found a bug? An outdated library version? Code that doesn't compile because a crate changed its API again? Open an issue or PR.

The bar for contributions: code must actually run, explanations must be accurate, and humor must be earned.

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License

MIT. Use it, build on it, ship it.

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A CloudStreet production. Technical, accurate, and genuinely amusing.