D3 Visualization LiveLessons (Video Training): An Introduction to Data Visualization in JavaScript

Overview

Visual Storytelling with D3 LiveLessons provides developers and designers with a hands-on introduction to D3, a powerful JavaScript library for making data visualizations on the web.

Description

In this video training, Ritchie starts by introducing D3: the beautiful interactive data visualizations it’s capable of creating, the reasons why it’s such a powerful library, and how to start using it. He then takes a brief, but necessary, detour to introduce Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)—a standard for rendering graphical elements on the web that D3 works particularly well with. From there, he walks through how to construct an interactive bar chart, rendered in SVG, but built entirely with D3, starting with very basic D3 concepts and adding more and more sophistication, lesson by lesson. Finally, he covers how to strike out on your own. After watching this video, designers and developers will feel comfortable diving right in to D3 and telling elegant visual stories with web graphics.

About the Instructor

Ritchie S. King is a reporter and visual journalist at FiveThirtyEight.com, focusing on data visualization and interactive features. Prior to that, he occupied a similar role at  Quartz (qz.com). In a previous life, he was a chemical engineer at a startup that was trying to turn wood chips and switchgrass into fuel. Though he left the world of engineering to become a journalist, he’s still into math and likes to muck with data. His stories and graphics have appeared in the  New York Times,  Bloomberg Businessweek,  Popular Science, and  IEEE Spectrum.

Skill Level

• Beginner
• Intermediate

What You Will Learn

• The tools you’ll need to use D3
• How to create stunning graphics using SVG
• How to make an interactive chart with D3
• How to build graphics based on CSV files, and other external data sources
• How to best take advantage of D3’s vast online community and ecosystem

Who Should Take This Course

Designers and visual storytellers who want to make custom interactive web graphics and developers looking to quickly get started with D3

Course Requirements

Table of Contents

Lesson 1: Welcome to the World of D3

1.1 Appreciate the beauty of D3

1.2 Take a tour of D3’s code, documentation, and ecosystem

1.3 Download the tools you’ll need to use D3

Lesson 2: Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)

2.1 Understand what SVG is

2.2 Understand the connection between SVG and D3

2.3 Make basic graphics in your browser using SVG markup

2.4 Learn more about what SVG can do

2.5 Use SVG to make a bar chart for the web

Lesson 3: Using Selections in D3

3.1 Create a D3-enabled web page

3.2 Use selections in D3 to change the contents of a web page

3.3 Chain methods and select multiple elements

3.4 Create a web page from scratch with D3 selections

Lesson 4: Data-Joins, the Heart and Soul of D3

4.1 Bind data to DOM elements using D3

4.2 Use data-joins to create DOM elements from data

4.3 Build a bar chart using data-joins

Lesson 5: Scales and Axes

5.1 Write linear scale functions in D3

5.2 Set up charts the Mike Bostock way

5.3 Create axes the easy way

5.4 Make non-linear scales and axes

Lesson 6: Loading and Manipulating External Data

6.1 Load and filter data from a CSV file

6.2 Handle asynchronous requests

Lesson 7: Making Charts Interactive and Animated

7.1 Add animated transitions to a bar chart

7.2 Create a web page with clickable buttons

Lesson 8: Making a Small Multiple Line Chart

8.1 Easily build a web page with multiple charts

Lesson 9: Where to Go From Here

9.1 Use layouts and maps in D3

9.2 Discover useful D3 tools and resources

Lesson 1: Welcome to the World of D3

Lesson 2: Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)

Lesson 2, “Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG),” is an introduction to SVG, a standard for rendering crisp, beautiful graphics on the web that D3 works incredibly well with. This lesson covers all of SVG’s fundamentals, from using the SVG markup language to create basic shapes in the browser to making an entire bar chart from scratch.

Lesson 3: Using Selections in D3

Lesson 3, “Using Selections in D3,” introduces selections in the D3 — the library’s way of granting access to elements on a web page so they can be manipulated based on data. This lesson walks through how to create selections and use them to change the contents of a web page.

Lesson 4: Data-Joins, the Heart and Soul of D3

Lesson 4, “Data-Joins, the Heart and Soul of D3,” introduces the programming construct that lies at the very core of D3 — the data-join. This lesson shows how, using data-joins, to create elements on a web page from data, including how to make an SVG bar chart the D3 way.

Lesson 5: Scales and Axes

Lesson 5, “Scales and Axes,” is an introduction to making chart axes the easy way in D3. This lesson covers how to use D3’s scales to map data to pixels and how to use D3’s axis generators to automatically create axes for data visualizations.

Lesson 6: Loading and Manipulating External Data

Lesson 6, “Loading and Manipulating External Data,” introduces D3’s way of bringing in external data files, such as CSV files. This lesson covers how to load external files, filter the data those files contain, and deal with asynchronous requests.

Lesson 7: Making Charts Interactive and Animated

Lesson 7, “Making Charts Interactive and Animated,” introduces D3’s techniques for making interactive and animated data visualizations. This lesson covers how to add animated transitions to a bar chart and create clickable buttons that let the user control the data that is being displayed, including a play button.

Lesson 8: Making a Small Multiple Line Chart

Lesson 8, “Making a Small Multiple Line Chart,” covers how to build an especially elegant form of data visualization—a small multiple chart. This lesson covers how to easily create multiple line charts on a web page and presents some rules of thumb to follow for using D3 effectively.

Lesson 9: Where to Go from Here

Lessons 9, “Where to Go from Here,” discusses how to strike out on your own with D3 after watching these LiveLessons. This lesson introduces some of D3’s more advanced features as well as helpful tools and resources.

About LiveLessons Video Training

The LiveLessons Video Training series publishes hundreds of hands-on, expert-led video tutorials covering a wide selection of technology topics designed to teach you the skills you need to succeed. This professional and personal technology video series features world-leading author instructors published by your trusted technology brands: Addison-Wesley, Cisco Press, IBM Press, Pearson IT Certification, Prentice Hall, Sams, and Que. Topics include: IT Certification, Programming, Web Development, Mobile Development, Home and Office Technologies, Business and Management, and more.  View all LiveLessons on InformIT at:  http://www.informit.com/livelessons