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Big fan of D3.js and now there is Observable Plot! I am building several data visualization software for exploratory data analysis: RATH, auto exploratory data

Big fan of D3.js and now there is Observable Plot! I am building several data visualization software for exploratory data analysis: RATH, auto exploratory data analysis: https://github.com/Kanaries/Rath https://github.com/Kanaries/Rath GraphicWalker, embeddable data exploration component: https://github.com/Kanaries/graphic-walker https://github.com/Kanaries/graphic-walker They are using vega-lite for now. But there is a limit of building more fancy and customized visualizations. It seems Plot has a more flexible layer based visualization system that can support larger design space. Is Plot stable enough now to migrate from vega-lite based system to Plot based? Are there any large milestone or roadmap of Plot in future?

mbostock 3y ago
If you’re primarily interested in static charts (or your interactivity is driven by external controls, such as drop-downs and sliders, where you can regenerate the chart as needed for interaction), then Plot is ready for use. On the other hand if you need direct manipulation interaction, such as brushing or painting dots in a scatterplot, then you might stick with Vega-Lite for now. We’re working on tooltips now, and interaction next. There’s a PR here with an early sketch and demo video: https://github.com/observablehq/plot/pull/721 https://github.com/observablehq/plot/pull/721
- derekperkins 3y ago
  That PR was created 15 months ago. Any rough idea when we might expect tooltips to be available?
  - mbostock 3y ago
    I expect we’ll release tooltips in a few weeks; I linked that newer PR in another comment. We’ve been exploring interaction while working on many other things (https://github.com/observablehq/plot/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md https://github.com/observablehq/plot/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md). Now that we’re feeling good about the foundation for static charts we are starting to address interaction.
    - derekperkins 3y ago
      Thanks, and we're very excited!
    - tannerlinsley 3y ago
      You have no idea how excited I am about this.

mbostock 3y ago

If you’re primarily interested in static charts (or your interactivity is driven by external controls, such as drop-downs and sliders, where you can regenerate the chart as needed for interaction), then Plot is ready for use. On the other hand if you need direct manipulation interaction, such as brushing or painting dots in a scatterplot, then you might stick with Vega-Lite for now. We’re working on tooltips now, and interaction next. There’s a PR here with an early sketch and demo video: https://github.com/observablehq/plot/pull/721 https://github.com/observablehq/plot/pull/721

derekperkins 3y ago
That PR was created 15 months ago. Any rough idea when we might expect tooltips to be available?
- mbostock 3y ago
  I expect we’ll release tooltips in a few weeks; I linked that newer PR in another comment. We’ve been exploring interaction while working on many other things (https://github.com/observablehq/plot/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md https://github.com/observablehq/plot/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md). Now that we’re feeling good about the foundation for static charts we are starting to address interaction.
  - derekperkins 3y ago
    Thanks, and we're very excited!
  - tannerlinsley 3y ago
    You have no idea how excited I am about this.