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Chart.js vs D3: Simple vs Advanced Data Visualization Tools

Both Chart.js and D3 are popular JavaScript libraries for creating data visualizations like charts and graphs on websites. Chart.js is beginner-friendly and offers pre-built chart types that are easy to set up, perfect for basic visualization needs. D3 is more powerful and flexible, allowing complete control over visualizations, but has a steeper learning curve and requires more coding.

Data Visualization Librarieschartsgraphsdata visualizationJavaScriptinteractive

Detailed Comparison

Technical Analysis

featureComparison

Chart.js is a lightweight charting library that provides a simple way to create charts, while d3.js is a powerful data visualization library that provides a wide range of features for creating complex and interactive visualizations.

typescriptSupport

Both chart.js and d3.js have TypeScript definitions, but chart.js has better TypeScript support with more comprehensive type definitions.

browserCompatibility

Both libraries are compatible with modern browsers, but chart.js has better support for older browsers.

dependencies

Chart.js has no dependencies, while d3.js has several dependencies, including d3-array, d3-axis, and d3-color.

performance

Chart.js is generally faster and more lightweight than d3.js, but d3.js provides more advanced features and customization options.

Ecosystem Analysis

frameworkCompatibility

Both libraries are compatible with popular frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue.js.

communityActivity

d3.js has a more active community with more contributors and a longer history, while chart.js has a smaller but still active community.

documentationQuality

Both libraries have good documentation, but d3.js has more comprehensive and detailed documentation.

maintenanceStatus

Both libraries are actively maintained, but d3.js has a more frequent release cycle.

Performance Comparison

bundleSizeAnalysis

Chart.js has a significantly smaller bundle size than d3.js, making it a better choice for smaller applications.

runtimePerformance

Chart.js is generally faster than d3.js, especially for smaller datasets.

loadingTime

Chart.js has a faster loading time than d3.js due to its smaller bundle size.

memoryUsage

Chart.js uses less memory than d3.js, especially for larger datasets.

Code Examples

Simple Line Chart with Chart.js

1const ctx = document.getElementById('chart').getContext('2d');
2new Chart(ctx, {
3  type: 'line',
4  data: {
5    labels: ['January', 'February', 'March'],
6    datasets: [{
7      label: 'My Dataset',
8      data: [10, 20, 30],
9      backgroundColor: 'rgba(255, 99, 132, 0.2)',
10      borderColor: 'rgba(255, 99, 132, 1)',
11      borderWidth: 1
12    }]
13  }
14});

This code creates a simple line chart with Chart.js, using a canvas element and a dataset with three data points.

Simple Bar Chart with d3.js

1const margin = {top: 20, right: 20, bottom: 30, left: 40};
2const width = 500 - margin.left - margin.right;
3const height = 300 - margin.top - margin.bottom;
4const xScale = d3.scaleBand().domain(['A', 'B', 'C']).range([0, width]).padding(0.2);
5const yScale = d3.scaleLinear().domain([0, 10]).range([height, 0]);
6const g = d3.select('body').append('svg').attr('width', width + margin.left + margin.right).attr('height', height + margin.top + margin.bottom).append('g').attr('transform', 'translate(' + margin.left + ',' + margin.top + ')');
7g.selectAll('rect').data([10, 20, 30]).enter().append('rect').attr('x', function(d, i) { return xScale(i); }).attr('y', function(d) { return height - yScale(d); }).attr('width', xScale.bandwidth()).attr('height', function(d) { return yScale(d); });

This code creates a simple bar chart with d3.js, using a SVG element and a dataset with three data points.

Recommendation

Summary

Chart.js is a better choice for simple charting needs, while d3.js is better suited for complex and interactive visualizations.

Details

  • Chart.js is easier to learn and use, especially for developers without prior experience with data visualization.
  • d3.js provides more advanced features and customization options, but requires more expertise and effort to use effectively.

Similar Packages

apexcharts

90%

A modern charting library that helps create interactive charts and graphs. It has a simple API and works great with React, Vue, and vanilla JavaScript.

Perfect for developers who want Chart.js-like simplicity but with more modern features and better animations. It has excellent documentation and is easier to customize than Chart.js.

Charting Library

highcharts

80%

A premium-quality charting library with support for many chart types. While it requires a license for commercial use, it's one of the most reliable and feature-rich options available.

Great alternative when you need enterprise-level charts with excellent browser support and regular updates. Has more features than Chart.js but is just as easy to use.

Charting Library

echarts

80%

A powerful charting library from Apache that works great with big datasets. Includes many chart types and has good performance even with lots of data.

Good choice when you need to handle large amounts of data or want charts that work well on mobile devices. Offers more chart types than Chart.js but has a slightly steeper learning curve.

Charting Library

vega

80%

A visualization grammar that lets you create custom charts using a JSON format. It's like D3 but with a more declarative approach to creating visualizations.

Good alternative to D3 when you want to create custom visualizations but prefer writing declarative specifications instead of imperative code. Built on top of D3 but much easier to use.

Data Visualization

victory

70%

A collection of React components for building interactive data visualizations. Made specifically for React applications with an easy-to-understand component structure.

Great D3 alternative for React developers who want to create charts without dealing with D3's complexity. Uses D3 under the hood but with a much simpler React-based API.

Data Visualization
<p align="center"> <a href="https://www.chartjs.org/" target="_blank"> <img src="https://www.chartjs.org/media/logo-title.svg" alt="https://www.chartjs.org/"><br/> </a> Simple yet flexible JavaScript charting for designers & developers </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://www.chartjs.org/docs/latest/getting-started/installation.html"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/release/chartjs/Chart.js.svg?style=flat-square&maxAge=600" alt="Downloads"></a> <a href="https://github.com/chartjs/Chart.js/actions?query=workflow%3ACI+branch%3Amaster"><img alt="GitHub Workflow Status" src="https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/chartjs/Chart.js/ci.yml?branch=master&style=flat-square"></a> <a href="https://coveralls.io/github/chartjs/Chart.js?branch=master"><img src="https://img.shields.io/coveralls/chartjs/Chart.js.svg?style=flat-square&maxAge=600" alt="Coverage"></a> <a href="https://github.com/chartjs/awesome"><img src="https://awesome.re/badge-flat2.svg" alt="Awesome"></a> <a href="https://discord.gg/HxEguTK6av"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/discord-chartjs-blue?style=flat-square&maxAge=3600" alt="Discord"></a> </p>

Documentation

All the links point to the new version 4 of the lib.

  • Introduction
  • Getting Started
  • General
  • Configuration
  • Charts
  • Axes
  • Developers
  • Popular Extensions
  • Samples

In case you are looking for an older version of the docs, you will have to specify the specific version in the url like this: https://www.chartjs.org/docs/2.9.4/

Contributing

Instructions on building and testing Chart.js can be found in the documentation. Before submitting an issue or a pull request, please take a moment to look over the contributing guidelines first. For support, please post questions on Stack Overflow with the chart.js tag.

License

Chart.js is available under the MIT license.

D3: Data-Driven Documents

<a href="https://d3js.org"><img src="./docs/public/logo.svg" width="256" height="256"></a>

D3 (or D3.js) is a free, open-source JavaScript library for visualizing data. Its low-level approach built on web standards offers unparalleled flexibility in authoring dynamic, data-driven graphics. For more than a decade D3 has powered groundbreaking and award-winning visualizations, become a foundational building block of higher-level chart libraries, and fostered a vibrant community of data practitioners around the world.

Resources

  • Documentation
  • Examples
  • Releases
  • Getting help

Dependencies Comparison

chart.js

Dependencies

@kurkle/color^0.3.0

Dev Dependencies

@rollup/plugin-commonjs^23.0.2
@rollup/plugin-inject^5.0.2
@rollup/plugin-json^5.0.1
@rollup/plugin-node-resolve^15.0.1
@swc/core^1.3.18
@types/estree^1.0.0
@types/offscreencanvas^2019.7.0
@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin^5.32.0
@typescript-eslint/parser^5.32.0
chartjs-adapter-luxon^1.2.0
chartjs-adapter-moment^1.0.0
chartjs-test-utils^0.4.0
concurrently^7.3.0
coveralls^3.1.1
cross-env^7.0.3
eslint^8.21.0
eslint-config-chartjs^0.3.0
eslint-plugin-es^4.1.0
eslint-plugin-html^7.1.0
eslint-plugin-markdown^3.0.0
esm^3.2.25
glob^8.0.3
jasmine^3.7.0
jasmine-core^3.7.1
karma^6.3.2
karma-chrome-launcher^3.1.0
karma-coverage^2.0.3
karma-edge-launcher^0.4.2
karma-firefox-launcher^2.1.0
karma-jasmine^4.0.1
karma-jasmine-html-reporter^1.5.4
karma-rollup-preprocessor7.0.7
karma-safari-private-launcher^1.0.0
karma-spec-reporter0.0.32
luxon^3.0.1
moment^2.29.4
moment-timezone^0.5.34
pixelmatch^5.3.0
rollup^3.3.0
rollup-plugin-cleanup^3.2.1
rollup-plugin-istanbul^4.0.0
rollup-plugin-swc3^0.7.0
rollup-plugin-terser^7.0.2
typescript^4.7.4
yargs^17.5.1

Peer Dependencies

d3

Dependencies

d3-dsv3
d3-geo3
d3-axis3
d3-drag3
d3-ease3
d3-path3
d3-time3
d3-zoom3
d3-array3
d3-brush3
d3-chord3
d3-color3
d3-fetch3
d3-force3
d3-scale4
d3-shape3
d3-timer3
d3-format3
d3-random3
d3-contour4
d3-polygon3
d3-delaunay6
d3-dispatch3
d3-quadtree3
d3-hierarchy3
d3-selection3
d3-transition3
d3-interpolate3
d3-time-format4
d3-scale-chromatic3

Dev Dependencies

mocha10
eslint8
rollup3
vitepress^1.0.0-beta.2
topojson-client^3.1.0
@observablehq/plot^0.6.7
@rollup/plugin-json6
@observablehq/runtime^5.7.3
@rollup/plugin-terser^0.4.0
@rollup/plugin-node-resolve15

Peer Dependencies

StarsIssuesVersionUpdatedⓘLast publish dateCreatedⓘPackage creation dateSizeⓘMinified + Gzipped size
C
chart.js
00N/AN/AN/Ainstall size N/A
D
d3
110,909207.9.0a month ago14 years agoinstall size 90.7 KB

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