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Roadmap  

[As of September, 2024]

Gekko 3.0 was released as a stable version in the spring of 2019, and new users are advised to use versions in the 3.1.x series, which can be thought of as a “stable” development series (cf. the versions overview page). A stable version 2.4 exists, but in general, the work on the 2.x series is discontinued. The Gekko 3.1.x series is expected to become an official stable version 3.2 in 2024, and following this a 3.3.x development series will start up. Syntax changes are not planned for the foreseeable future (except minor tweaks).

Aims regarding the further development of the 3.1.x or 3.3.x series:

  • Continued work on better error messages.
  • Shemas/templates for Gekko tables, created as Excel sheets. These would complement/supersede the existing xml-based .gtb-files. Alternatively, Gekko tabels could be stored/packed as array-series and shown via a web system like for instance StatBank Denmark.
  • More advanced seasonal correction (JDemetra+ etc.), perhaps via the R RJDemetra package.
  • Finetuning Gekcel, among other things implementing some of the Gekcel VBA code that the Central Bank of Denmark uses.
  • More advanced PLOT windows, vector-based + other plot enhancements like PLOT<i> (index-scaled), PLOT<v> (verbose) etc.
  • DOC<browser> for GAMS-type models (html-based equation browser).
  • Implementing some of the “missing” functions/procedures from AREMOS that deal with holes in data, interpolation, extrapolation, or conversion between frequencies.
  • Better Python and R interfaces. Dataframe objects in Gekko would facilitate communication with Python and R. Perhaps use Apache Arrow as an interface for data interchange.
  • Improved solver capabilities. Blocks of equations, equation objects, model objects. More means than goals. Improved tracking when simulations fail. (Handling blocks of equations has been implemented in the 2.5.x series, but regarding the 3.1.x version, this will be built differently, using equation objects etc. Still, the experiences from model blocks in 2.5.x will be useful). Perhaps also static simulation possibilities (in a sense removing lags and solving the model for one period to obtain long-run values).
  • Migration of Gekko, including its user interface, from .NET Framework to .NET Core, in order to future-proof the use of Gekko (and also benefit from the more modern and efficient .NET Core).