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For those looking for higher level interfaces for interactive visualization via D3, check out Vega/Vega-Lite [1] and Altair [2] (a Python library based on Vega-

For those looking for higher level interfaces for interactive visualization via D3, check out Vega/Vega-Lite [1] and Altair [2] (a Python library based on Vega-Lite). [1] https://vega.github.io/ https://vega.github.io/ [2] https://altair-viz.github.io/ https://altair-viz.github.io/ [3] https://vega.github.io/vega/about/vega-and-d3/ https://vega.github.io/vega/about/vega-and-d3/

domoritz 6y ago
D3 started out as an academic project and Vega/Vega-Lite come from the same lab. Also, while Vega does not generate D3 code (Vega is a declarative visualization language and reactive runtime), it uses the D3 libraries internally and is heavily inspired by some of the core principles (e.g. data join).
kqr 6y ago
One of the things I really like about D3 is how there's nothing it won't do, precisely because it's a lower level interface. With many higher level interfaces, things go great until I eventually run into a situation where I would like to do a tiny tweak that would improve readability a lot, and it turns out the higher level interface does not support that, so I'm out of luck. That said, I haven't tried Vega. What are your experiences in terms of that problem with Vega?
- gampleman 6y ago
  I think they serve different use cases. I love Vega-lite for exploratory analysis and for quick prototyping. You can get fantastically complex visualisations very quickly with it. But for building "production" visualisations, I think the low level approach is better: you'll get much smaller bundle sizes, you have much more control over the final look and that control tends to be expressed "naturally" rather than in convoluted configuration.
  - awake 6y ago
    I would not even touch vega, it’s the engine vega lite is built on. Vega lite is a declarative json format for representing charts. The spec is very well thought out and you can rapidly iterate on prototypes. Altair is a python wrapper for vega lite
  - huskyr 6y ago
    +1. It's amazing what you can do with Vega(Lite) and/or Altair in little time. But once you want to build something that performs on the web you really need to rewrite things using another library, like D3.

domoritz 6y ago

D3 started out as an academic project and Vega/Vega-Lite come from the same lab. Also, while Vega does not generate D3 code (Vega is a declarative visualization language and reactive runtime), it uses the D3 libraries internally and is heavily inspired by some of the core principles (e.g. data join).

kqr 6y ago

One of the things I really like about D3 is how there's nothing it won't do, precisely because it's a lower level interface. With many higher level interfaces, things go great until I eventually run into a situation where I would like to do a tiny tweak that would improve readability a lot, and it turns out the higher level interface does not support that, so I'm out of luck. That said, I haven't tried Vega. What are your experiences in terms of that problem with Vega?

gampleman 6y ago
I think they serve different use cases. I love Vega-lite for exploratory analysis and for quick prototyping. You can get fantastically complex visualisations very quickly with it. But for building "production" visualisations, I think the low level approach is better: you'll get much smaller bundle sizes, you have much more control over the final look and that control tends to be expressed "naturally" rather than in convoluted configuration.
- awake 6y ago
  I would not even touch vega, it’s the engine vega lite is built on. Vega lite is a declarative json format for representing charts. The spec is very well thought out and you can rapidly iterate on prototypes. Altair is a python wrapper for vega lite
- huskyr 6y ago
  +1. It's amazing what you can do with Vega(Lite) and/or Altair in little time. But once you want to build something that performs on the web you really need to rewrite things using another library, like D3.