About this Book
People come to data visualization, and D3 particularly, from three different areas. The first is traditional web development, where they assume D3 is a charting library or, less commonly, a mapping library. The second is more traditional software development, like Java, where D3 is part of the transition into HTML5 development. The last area is a trajectory that involves statistical analysis using R, Python, or desktop apps.
In each case, D3 represents two major transitions for folks: modern web development and data visualization. I touch on aspects of both that may give a reader more grounding in what I expect to be new and strange fields. Someone who’s intimately familiar with JavaScript may find that some of these subjects (like function chaining) are already well understood, and others who know data visualization well may feel the same way about some of the general principles, like graphical primitives.
Although I do provide an introduction to D3, the focus of this book is on a more exhaustive explanation of key principles of the library. Whether you’re just getting started with D3, or you’re looking to develop more advanced skills, this book provides you with the tools you need to create whatever data visualization you can think of.