Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Other notable browser-based tools for analyzing data and creating embeddable or
exportable data visualizations include DataWrapper ( http://datawrapper.de/ )
and Polychart ( http://polychart.com/ ).
One of the first online offerings was Many Eyes, created by the IBM Visual
Communications Lab in 2007, though ongoing support and development has
lapsed. Many Eyes introduced many to Wordle ( http://www.wordle.net/ )
a popular tool for visualizing the frequency of words used in text via "word
clouds". Note, however, the novelty of this type of display has long since worn
off for many people (especially please stop using it as your final PowerPoint slide
in presentations!).
Programming environments
The ultimate capability in visualization design is to have complete control over
the characteristics and behavior of every mark, property, and user-driven event
on a chart or graph. The only way to fundamentally achieve this level of creative
control is through the command of one or a range of programming languages.
Until recent times one of the most important and popular options was Adobe Flash
( http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/flash.html ), a powerful and creative
environment for animated and multimedia designs. Flash was behind many
prominent interactive visualization designs in the field. However, Apple's decision
to not support Flash on its mobile platforms effectively signaled the beginning of
the end. Subsequently, most contemporary visualization programmers are focusing
their developments on a range of powerful JavaScript environments and libraries.
D3.js ( http://d3js.org/ ) is the newest and coolest kid in town. Launched in 2011
from the Stanford Visualization Group that previously brought us Protovis (no
longer in active development) this is a JavaScript library that has rapidly evolved
into to the major player in interactive visualization terms.
 
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