unitsCentral

unitsCentral is a centralized platform and software library for managing units of measurement, performing conversions, and enabling dimensional analysis across software systems and data workflows. It is designed to standardize how quantities are represented, parsed, and formatted in applications ranging from scientific computing to data analytics.

The project provides a core registry of units, supported quantity types, and rules for conversion. It covers SI units as well as common non-SI units, with support for derived and compound units. A dimensional analysis engine helps detect incompatible unit operations, reducing errors in calculations. Localization features allow unit names and symbols to be displayed in multiple languages, and a flexible parser accepts diverse input formats while producing consistent output.

Architecture centers on a pluggable unit registry and a conversion engine that can be embedded in applications or accessed through a REST API. Language bindings are available for JavaScript, Python, and Java, with plans for additional bindings. The data model includes entities such as Unit, Quantity, Dimension, and Conversion, and the system emphasizes precise arithmetic and configurable rounding behavior.

editions and licensing: unitsCentral is released under permissive open-source licenses and also offers commercial enterprise options with extended support and governance features. This dual model aims to support both individual developers and organizational deployments with auditable change tracking.

Development and community: the project originated with an international collaboration of developers and researchers and maintains a public repository, issue tracker, and documentation. Community involvement includes code contributions, tests, and user-facing guides.

Use cases: software developers integrate unit handling into applications, data engineers normalize datasets, scientists validate dimensional consistency in simulations, and educators illustrate unit concepts in interactive tools.

See also: International System of Units, Unit conversion, Dimensional analysis, Quantity (physics).