Getting Started with D3
Mike Dewar
(O’Reilly, paperback – Kindle)
This focused, 58-page how-to guide introduces the basics of D3, a JavaScript library written by Mike Bostock.
The D3 library, a free download, can be used to manipulate documents based on data. According to the Data-Driven Documents website, “D3 allows you to bind arbitrary data to a Document Object Model (DOM), and then apply data-driven transformations to the document. For example, you can use D3 to generate an HTML table from an array of numbers. Or, use the same data to create an interactive SVG bar chart with smooth transitions and interaction.”
Mike Dewar’s book is aimed at “the data scientist: someone has data to visualize and who wants to use the power of the modern web browser to give his visualizations additional impact.” However, if you don’t consider yourself a data scientist, but are comfortable with coding and manipulating data, this book can still show you how to use a combination of JavaScript and SVG [Scalable Vector Graphics] “to build everything from simple bar charts to complex infographics.”
Getting Started with D3 has six chapters, and they are illustrated with code samples and examples of graphics produced using D3.
- Introduction
- The Enter Selection
- Scales, Axes, and Lines
- Interactions and Transitions
- Layout
- Conclusion
In his conclusion, Mike Dewar, a data scientist at Bitly, offers encouragement and additional resources for digging deeper into D3. “The documentation for D3 is extensive,” he writes, “and is available at http://d3js.org along with a huge gallery of examples. This is an essential resource, both for reference and inspiration.”
His book is also an essential resource, for learning the basics of using D3.
— Si Dunn
