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Understanding D3 & Data Visualization

Understanding D3 & Data Visualization

Before digging into the code, let's get a basic understanding behind the idea of D3 and data visualization.

Before we write a single line of code, let’s get a general overview of what data visualization is and why it is crucial. This course focuses on the code only. However, it is essential to understand some of the fundamental concepts to help you better approach your projects.

What is data visualization?

Data visualization is the ability to convey a story or an idea as efficiently as possible. As the old saying goes:

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Data visualizations are not just for making data look good. They let an end-user better understand a situation or story. As a result, data visualization will allow the user to make an informative decision or learn something new.

Data visualizations can also help us explore patterns. Looking at a spreadsheet or table of data makes it harder for users to visualize trends. Without proper visualization, we can end up missing small disruptions in our data.

So, data visualization is an integral part of data science. If we were to break down most visualizations, we would find that visualizations are made up of shapes, colors, and sizes. With just these three ...