The data frame is a columnar data structure which allows efficient querying of large amounts of data. Since data frames are a central concept when developing plugins for Grafana, in this guide we'll look at some ways you can use them.
The [DataFrame]({{<relref"../../packages_api/data/dataframe.md">}}>) interface contains a `name` and an array of `fields` where each field contains the name, type, and the values for the field.
The [DataFrame]({{<relref"../../packages_api/data/dataframe.md">}}) interface contains a `name` and an array of `fields` where each field contains the name, type, and the values for the field.
> **Note:** If you're looking to migrate an existing plugin to use the data frame format, refer to [Migrate to data frames]({{< relref "migration-guide.md#migrate-to-data-frames" >}}).
