You quickly graduate into writing PApplets in Java. However, even as you do so - the ability to sketch ideas and algorithms in the sketchpad interface is stil

You quickly graduate into writing PApplets in Java. However, even as you do so - the ability to sketch ideas and algorithms in the sketchpad interface is still a huge help. In practice, Processing is by far the best thing going for creating interactive ad hoc visualizations. Fluency in processing imparts enormous viz power. It is really liberating. I pretty much only write Java when I do Processing (and some Pig stuff), and I don't mind it at all - despite not loving Java. Using a JVM is a huge advantage because you can embed your applets in web pages and interact with the rest of the page via JS. Jython would be cool. Processing : Viz as Perl : CSV