What Do We Need to Get Started?

Intended audience

This course is intended to be useful to an absolute beginner to D3.js and JavaScript. Its aim is to allow the reader to implement practical examples of data visualization and graphics in a way that develops knowledge and skills by “doing” rather than rote learning. After working through the book, the reader should be comfortable with being able to develop their own code and be set to explore advanced topics.

Prerequisites

Let’s be honest with each other; D3 is not the simplest way to draw a graph.

However, that doesn’t mean that it’s beyond those with a little computer savvy and a willingness to experiment. Remember, failure is your friend. Just learn from your mistakes, and it’ll all work out.

So, in no particular order, here is a list of good things to know. None of which are essential, but any one (or more) of which will make life slightly easier.

• HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
• JavaScript
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
• Web Servers