Choosing Tools to Visualize Data - Data Points: Visualization That Means Something - page 62

learn anymore. It was also hard to repeat my work for different datasets,
because I had to remember everything I clicked. In contrast, when you
write code to handle your data, it's often easy to reuse code and plug in a
different dataset.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying to avoid out-of-the-box software com-
pletely. They can help you explore your data quickly and easily. But as you
work with more datasets, there will be times when the software doesn't
fit, and when that time comes you can turn to programming.
Programming
This can't be stressed enough: Gain just a little bit of programming skills,
and you can do so much more with data than if you were to stick only with
out-of-the-box software. Programming skills give you the ability to be
more flexible and more able to adapt to different types of data.
If you've ever been impressed by a data graphic that looked custom-made,
most likely it was coded or designed in illustrative software. A lot of the
time it's both. The latter is covered a little later.
Code can look cryptic to beginners—I've been there. But think of it as a
new language because that's what it is. each line of code tells the com-
puter to do something. Your computer doesn't understand the way you talk
to your friends, so you have to talk to the computer in its own language or
syntax.
Like any language, you can't immediately start a conversation. Start with
the basics first and then work your way up. Before you know it, you'll be
coding. The cool thing about programming is that after you learn one lan-
guage, it's much easier to learn others because the logic is similar.
Options
So you decide to get your hands dirty with code—good for you. A lot of
options are freely available. Some languages are better at performing cer-
tain tasks better than others. Some solutions can handle large amounts
of data, whereas others are not as robust in that department but can
produce much better visuals or provide interaction. Which language you