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  5. D3.js vs Processing

D3.js vs Processing

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

D3.js
D3.js
Stacks2.0K
Followers1.7K
Votes653
GitHub Stars111.7K
Forks22.9K
Processing
Processing
Stacks193
Followers103
Votes0
GitHub Stars2.9K
Forks806

D3.js vs Processing: What are the differences?

Introduction:

D3.js and Processing are both powerful tools for creating interactive data visualizations, but they have key differences that developers need to consider when choosing the right tool for their project.

  1. Language and Platform Differences: D3.js is a JavaScript library that leverages the power of HTML, SVG, and CSS to create dynamic data visualizations on the web. On the other hand, Processing is a Java-based platform that can be used for creating interactive graphics, animations, and simulations. This difference in language and platform can influence the choice of tool based on developers' familiarity and project requirements.

  2. Target Audience: D3.js is commonly used by web developers and designers who are looking to create dynamic and interactive visualizations for websites and web applications. In contrast, Processing is popular among artists, designers, and creative coders who work on generative art, creative coding, and interactive installations. The target audience for each tool may impact the level of support, documentation, and available resources for developers.

  3. Community and Ecosystem: D3.js has a broader and more active community compared to Processing, which results in a wealth of online resources, tutorials, and plugins for developers to leverage. Processing, on the other hand, has a dedicated community focused on creative coding and generative art projects, offering specialized support and resources for its users. The community and ecosystem surrounding each tool can affect the ease of development and the availability of solutions to common problems.

  4. Data Visualization Capabilities: D3.js is specifically designed for creating data visualizations and provides a wide range of tools and functionalities for working with data, such as data binding, scales, and data-driven DOM manipulation. Processing, while capable of creating visualizations, is more general-purpose and versatile in its application, allowing for a broader range of creative projects beyond data visualization. The choice between the two tools may depend on the primary focus of the project, whether it is data visualization or broader creative coding.

  5. Integration with Web Technologies: D3.js seamlessly integrates with web technologies such as HTML, SVG, and CSS, allowing developers to create interactive and responsive visualizations that can be easily embedded in websites or web applications. On the other hand, Processing may require additional steps or plugins to integrate interactive graphics with web technologies, as it is primarily used as a standalone platform or for creating desktop applications. The integration with web technologies is crucial for projects that require online deployment and accessibility.

In Summary, D3.js is focused on web-based data visualizations with a strong community and integration with web technologies, while Processing is a versatile platform for creative coding and interactive art projects with a dedicated community and broader application scope.

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Advice on D3.js, Processing

Ayaskant
Ayaskant

SSE-II at Akamai

Oct 25, 2019

Needs advice

I want to get suggestions on these 2 open source js libraries (D3.js & echarts) that help in creating charts or graphs on the UI. Which one will be better for bar graphs. Which is easy to learn and start with? Which provides better features and community support?

My requirements are 1 - Plot data in X-Y axis graph where x-axis will present time till seconds level and Y-Axis will present the data corresponding to that time.

2 - Zoom-in and zoom out feature.

56.1k views56.1k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

D3.js
D3.js
Processing
Processing

It is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. Emphasises on web standards gives you the full capabilities of modern browsers without tying yourself to a proprietary framework.

It is an open programming language for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions for the web without using Flash or Java applets.

Declarative Approach for Individual Nodes Manipulation; Functions Factory; Web Standards; Built-in ELement Inspector to Debug; Uses SVG, Canvas, and HTML; Data-driven approach to DOM Manipulation; Voronoi Diagrams; Maps and topo.
Free to download and open source; Interactive programs with 2D, 3D or PDF output; OpenGL integration for accelerated 2D and 3D; For GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Android, and ARM; Over 100 libraries extend the core software; Well documented, with many books available
Statistics
GitHub Stars
111.7K
GitHub Stars
2.9K
GitHub Forks
22.9K
GitHub Forks
806
Stacks
2.0K
Stacks
193
Followers
1.7K
Followers
103
Votes
653
Votes
0
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 195
    Beautiful visualizations
  • 103
    Svg
  • 92
    Data-driven
  • 81
    Large set of examples
  • 61
    Data-driven documents
Cons
  • 11
    Beginners cant understand at all
  • 6
    Complex syntax
No community feedback yet
Integrations
JavaScript
JavaScript
React Native
React Native
AngularJS
AngularJS
React
React
Bootstrap
Bootstrap
C++
C++
Visual Basic
Visual Basic
Java
Java
JavaScript
JavaScript

What are some alternatives to D3.js, Processing?

JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

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