# JupyterLab

You learned about [Jupyter](https://docs.jupyter.org/en/latest/) in {ref}`the notebook
server`. [JupyterLab](https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/) is
the next phase of the Jupyter project. Eventually it will become the
standard Jupyter interface. If you wish, you can experience the future
today.

JupyterLab is another step along the road to making Jupyter a
full-fledged IDE (integrated development environment) that can be
accessed via a web browser. Here's an example: When I use Jupyter,
typically I see something like this:

:::{figure-md} typical-jupyter-fig
:class: align-center

<img src="typical-jupyter.jpg" alt="typical-jupyter">

A typical Jupyter view.
:::

I prefer to use tabs instead of separate browser windows, but otherwise
your experience with Jupyter is probably the same: the main Jupyter file
browser is in one window, while the Jupyter notebooks are each in
separate windows of their own.

This is what I see when I set up the same tasks in JupyterLab:

:::{figure-md} typical-jupyterlab-fig
:class: align-center

<img src="typical-jupyterlab.jpg" alt="typical-jupyterlab">

A typical JupyterLab view.
:::

The entire notebook interface is contained in a single browser window.
JupyterLab offers more, such as a text editor with syntax highlighting
and the ability to execute code within Markdown documents. For more
information, see the [JupyterLab user's
guide](https://jupyterlab.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user/interface.html).

If you want to try JupyterLab, the simplest way to switch is to edit the
URL of your main Jupyter page. For example, when I use Jupyter, I see
the following URL:

<https://seligman.notebook.nevis.columbia.edu/user/seligman/tree>

To switch to JupyterLab, change the characters `tree` to `lab`. For
example, what I would use is:

<https://seligman.notebook.nevis.columbia.edu/user/seligman/lab>

To switch back to Jupyter, select **Launch Classic Notebook** from
JupyterLab's **Help** menu.

If you want to always use JupyterLab instead of Jupyter, create or edit
the file `~/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py` and include the
following line:

    c.NotebookApp.default_url = '/lab'