Choosing Tools to Visualize Data - Data Points: Visualization That Means Something - page 75

and then sends the translation to your computer. The computer then does
something for you, such as makes a graph or processes some data.
So time is definitely a major hurdle. It takes time for you to learn a new
language. For a lot of people, this hurdle is too high which I can relate to.
You need to get work done now because you have a load of data sitting in
front of you, and people waiting on results. If that's the case, in which you
have only this single data-related task with nothing in the future, it might
be better to go with the out-of-the-box visualization tools.
However, if you want to tackle your data and will most likely have (or want)
lots of data-related projects in the future, the time spent learning how
to program now could end up as saved time on other projects, with more
impressive results. You'll get better at programming on each project you
go through, and it'll start to come much easier. Just like any foreign lan-
guage, you don't start writing topics in that language; you start with the
essentials and then branch out.
Here's another way to look at it. Hypothetically speaking, say you're tossed
into a foreign country, and you don't speak the language. Instead, you have
a translator. (Stay with me on this one. I have a point.) To talk to a local, you
speak, and then your translator forwards the message. What if the transla-
tor doesn't know the meaning or the right word for something you just said?
He could leave the word out, or if he's resourceful, he can look it up in a
translation dictionary.
For out-of-the-box visualization tools, the software is the translator. If it
doesn't know how to do something, you're stuck or have to try an alter-
native method. Unlike the speaking translator, software usually doesn't
instantly learn new words, or in this case, graph types or data handling
features. New functions come in the form of software updates, which you
have to wait for. So what if you learn the language yourself?
Again, I'm not saying to avoid out-of-the-box tools. I use them all the time.
They make a lot of tedious tasks quick and easy, which is great. Just don't
let the software restrict you.
As you see in later chapters, programming can help you get a lot done with
much less effort than if you were to do it all by hand. That said, there are
also things better done by hand, especially when you're telling stories with
data. That brings you to the next section on illustration: the opposite end of
the visualization spectrum.