Archive for the Tips and Tricks

Creating Linear Gauge Chart in JavaScript — Tutorial

October 20th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

A laptop showing an interactive Linear Gauge Chart explained and created in JavaScript along this data visualization tutorialThis article presents an easy-to-follow guide for building an interactive linear gauge chart in JavaScript.

We’ll show how to quickly create a cool and interactive linear gauge chart that highlights Covid-19 vaccination data around the world. Our chart will allow us to visualize the status of Covid-19 vaccination at the time of writing, and will display two types of data — showing how far away we are from the halfway target of both partially and fully vaccinating the global population.

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Building Word Tree Chart with JavaScript

October 4th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

Word Tree Chart built with JavaScript HTML5 on a screenData visualization is not only useful for communicating insights but also helpful for data exploration. There are a whole lot of different chart types that are widely used for identifying patterns in data. One of the lesser-used chart types is Word Tree. It is a very interesting visualization form, quite effective in analyzing texts. And right now, I will teach you how to quickly create nice interactive word tree charts using JavaScript.

Word trees display how a set of selected words are connected to other words in text data with a branching layout. These charts are similar to word clouds where words that occur more frequently are shown bigger. But they are different in the sense that word trees also show the connection between the words, which adds context and helps find patterns.

In this tutorial, I will create a lovely word tree from the text of the very famous book The Little Prince by French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Check out a demonstration of the final chart below and keep reading to learn how this and any other interactive JS word tree can be built with ease.

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How to Build Interactive Connector Map with JavaScript

September 21st, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

Building an Interactive Connector Map for a Web Page or App with JavaScript HTML5A connector map is a set of straight or curved lines that link points on a geographical map. It is commonly used to graphically represent routes or any other connections between locations. Would you like to learn how to build an attractive data visualization like that for a web page or app?

Actually, it is easy to create an interactive connector map using JavaScript. And I am ready to show you how right now! Follow along with this tutorial as I depict the cycling path of the 2021 Tour de France in the form of a JS connector map and thoroughly explain all steps.

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How to Create Financial Open-High-Low-Close (OHLC) Chart Using JavaScript

September 7th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

Interactive Open-High-Low-Close (OHLC) chart built with JavaScript on a laptop screenA stepwise guide on how to create interactive financial charts in the form of an OHLC chart. Visualizing the stock prices of Amazon over the course of Jeff Bezos’s tenure as the CEO.

Financial charts are especially useful to represent large amounts of data and identify trends. Would like to learn one such cool financial chart called the OHLC chart that visualizes stock price movement?

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Building JS Resource Gantt Chart to Visualize Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Schedule

August 17th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

A Mac screen with an interactive JavaScript Resource Gantt chart visualizing the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic schedule by venueSmart resource allocation is a must to achieve a high level of operational efficiency. Aiming to ensure it, project management professionals commonly rely on a special form of data visualization called a Resource Gantt chart. Creating graphics like this may seem daunting at first sight. But I am here to show you an easy way to build Resource Gantt charts with JS using a compelling, topical example.

Resource Gantt charts, also known as simply Resource charts, consist of bars oriented along the horizontal axis. Each bar visualizes a resource used by an activity, with the length representing the duration while that resource is occupied by that activity. The left and right edges of the bars display the start and end times. The resources, or event labels, are listed on the left. The dates and times are shown in the header.

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are just around the corner. So, I decided to visualize their sports program by venue. Follow along with this stepwise tutorial and you will learn how to create a cool JavaScript Resource Gantt chart visualizing the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic schedule!

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How to Create Line Chart with JavaScript

July 28th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

A JavaScript-based multi-series line chart on a laptop screenA line chart is one of the basic and most commonly used techniques of data visualization. Such graphics are known to provide an informative look at the change of one or several variables over time. Right now, I’ll explain how to easily create a cool interactive line chart using JavaScript! The process will be demonstrated with the help of compelling examples that you can play with afterwards to hone your new data visualization development skills.

To make the article especially thrilling for you to read and learn from, I decided to showcase a practical application of a line chart to real-world data. The month of June was celebrated as Pride Month, and I thought it would be great to see how attitudes toward LGBT people have changed over the recent years. Then I found interesting public opinion data from the General Social Survey (GSS), a project of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, which appeared to be a good fit, and took part of it to visualize in this guide.

So, follow along with the tutorial and you will also be able to explore the shifts in acceptance of same-sex relationships in the United States over the last two decades! We will create a single-series JS line chart first, representing the general trend, and then a multi-series JS line chart to visualize a breakdown by age group.

All aboard!

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Creating JS Flow Map in Four Steps

July 13th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

A Flow Map Built using JavaScript in Four StepsA step-by-step tutorial showing how to create an interactive JS Flow Map. Illustrated by visualizing data on migration to the US.

It may seem to be complicated to create an interactive Flow Map for the Web using JavaScript. But it’s not! This easy-to-follow tutorial will show you how to build beautiful JS flow maps without too much effort.

In these difficult times of the pandemic, there is a lot of confusion and concern about the immigration status of people around the globe. I decided to take a look at the immigration data of the US which has more migrants than any other country in the world. Here, I explore where these immigrants come from and represent the top 15 countries that contributed the highest number of migrants to the US in the year 2019.

A flow map seems the perfect way to showcase the inflow of migrants into the United States from various countries. Before going further, let me give you a brief idea about a flow map and its uses.

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How to Build JavaScript Donut Charts

July 6th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

Building JavaScript Donut Charts for Data Visualization in Web Apps and Sites Based on HTML5Wondering how data designers and developers create compelling donut charts using JavaScript? Then you’ve come to the right place at the right time. Follow along and you will learn how to build an interactive JS donut chart with great ease even if you are a beginner!

In this tutorial, we will be visualizing data about the global market share of the top online music streaming platforms. It is a good example of information that can be nicely represented in a donut chart.

To make sure we are on the same page, let’s first see what a donut chart is and then get down to charting straight away!

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How to Create Interactive Timeline Chart with JavaScript

June 17th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

A laptop screen with an interactive JavaScript Timeline Chart of COVID-19 vaccine development built along this JS charting tutorialI think all of us have come across timelines somewhere or the other; as a means of conveying chronological information, the classic timeline is unmatched, both in the depth of information conveyed and the “cool” factor, when done with a deft creative touch. So, with that said, would you like to learn how to build a timeline chart using JavaScript that both looks great and is simple to create? (Of course, you do!) Follow along with me as I take you through the step-by-step breakdown for developing your own JS timeline with a practical example.

As the world continues to battle with COVID-19, the long-awaited good news is the development of vaccines across the globe. Here, I decided to build an interactive timeline that showcases the phases of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine development in the United States. To add more contextual information, I also wanted to show approvals from other countries and some related facts, including the dates for the development of the 3 other vaccines approved for usage in the US.

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Building Mosaic Chart in JavaScript

May 11th, 2021 by Shachee Swadia

A laptop screen with a mosaic chart made with JavaScriptA step-by-step guide for building an interactive JS Mosaic Chart. Illustrated by visualizing data on quarterly PC shipments by brand in 2020.

Data visualization is a valuable tool in today’s scenario, with data everywhere and various opportunities to tap into that data to find insights. Visual charts are imperative to communicate ideas, identify patterns, and make the most of the available data.

So then, would you like to quickly and easily learn how to create a really cool chart that showcases data interestingly?

A mosaic chart is a multi-series chart that effectively represents data with over 2 parameters and is so-called because each data point has distinctive indents, making it visually similar to a piece of mosaic art. Not only is this chart beautiful to look at, but is also very helpful in representing multiple variables and recognizing the relationship between these different variables.

The year 2020 was not all bad, at least for the market of personal computers. The sales of PCs increased throughout each quarter of 2020, with more people working and studying from home. I explored how each brand fared in every quarter based on the number of global shipments.

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