Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Moving briefly away from interactive programming environments we turn to
R
(
http://www.r-project.org/
), a highly extensible, open source language for
statistical analysis and graphical techniques. R has developed into a powerful and
versatile method for creating static charts and graphics that transcend the creative
limitations of software packages such as Excel. There is a large active online
community, which can really help with the challenge of going through the learning
process. To demonstrate R's worth, the New York Times use this extensively in
their data sketching and static graphic workflows. Check out
Mondrian
(
http://
rosuda.org/mondrian/
) and
Wolfram Mathematica
(
http://www.wolfram.com/
mathematica/
) for other powerful, statistical graphing capabilities.
Quadrigram
(
http://www.quadrigram.com/
) is an innovative visual programming
environment designed to enable anyone working with data to create powerful,
flexible, and custom visualizations. It is intended to be accessible for people with
limited technical and programming experience.
In support of open interactive journalism, the
Miso
project (
http://misoproject.
com/
) developed by the Guardian and Bocoup, is a fairly recent arrival. It provides
open source tools for developers and non-developers alike to facilitate the quick
creation of impressive, extensible interactive data visualizations. There also
exists an option for developers to get under the hood and extend and expand the
computational methods.
Other notable programming tools to mention include
Nodebox
(
http://nodebox.
net/
), which is a Python-based tool for creating generative, static, animated, or
interactive visualizations, and
KendoUI
(
http://www.kendoui.com/
) for building
interactive HTML5-based data visualizations for both web and mobile applications.
Finally, in recent times, we have witnessed the rise of
WebGL
(
http://www.
chromeexperiments.com/webgl/
), a new web technology for rendering interactive
two-and three-dimensional graphics. The utilization of this standard has so far seen
more experimentation than particularly solid visualization work, but it certainly
offers new capabilities for pushing the creative boundaries of data representation.
Tools for mapping
The great opportunity that exists these days for plotting geo-spatial data onto maps
is matched by the range of tools available to accomplish it.
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