Visualization

This is a list of miscellaneous resources I’ve come across dealing with data visualization in several forms.

These are mostly utility libraries and viewers that I had scattered all over the place and that are best concentrated on a single page for reference.

The Graphs and Graphing and Visualization pages will be subsumed by this one in the fullness of time.

Ratings are entirely subjective based on my interest.

Charting and Plotting

Link	Type	Formats	Rating	Notes
Open Flash Chart	Viewer and server-side libraries	Flash		Pretty damn good, only thing I don’t like are the funky tooltips
Google Chart API	Web Service	PNG		Lots of chart types, but URL API makes it a bit limited
Plotkit	JavaScript library	HTML canvas, SVG		Simple and to the point, hasn’t been updated since 2006
Flot	jQuery extension	HTML canvas		Amazingly powerful, supports interactive zooming of data
amCharts	Viewer	Flash		Commercial (free with hard-coded link to home site)
XML/SWF Charts	Viewer	Flash		Commercial (free with hard-coded link to home site)
Pychart	Python library	PDF, PNG, SVG		Good for complex scientific plots. Not updated since 2006.
Chaco	Python library	Qt and GUI, primarily		Best suited for GUI apps
ZedGraph	C# classes	Multiple		Usable for server-side chart generation as well as GUI
Pybrary Plot	C#	Multiple		Simple and straightforward
nplot	C#	Multiple		Primarily aimed at server-side plots
Gnuplot	CLI tool	Multiple		The old favorite, great for scientific plotting but too complex for simple stuff
ploticus	CLI tools	Multiple		Great for very large datasets
RRDtool	Standalone tool with multiple language bindings	PNG		Excellent for system and network monitoring over large periods of time
GraphSketcher	Desktop app	PDF, JPEG, PNG		Simple and to the point, great for off-the-cuff graphs

Scientific Visualization

Link	Type	Formats	Rating	Notes
MayaVi	Desktop app	Multiple		Heavy-duty scientific visualization tool
matplotlib	Python library	Too many to list		Inspired by Matlab. Good for publication quality output. Extremely sophisticated (and complex).
SciGraphica	Desktop app	Multiple		Competent GTK app, hasn’t been updated since 2005
R	Desktop app	Multiple		Focuses on statistical computing, graphics are a competent add-on

Graphs

Link	Type	Formats	Rating	Notes
Graphviz	Desktop and CLI app	Multiple		The quintessential graph rendering application, also available with a spiffy Mac OS X GUI
The JavaScript Canvas Hyperbolic Tree	JavaScript library	HTML canvas		Very good interactive navigation
Moowheel	JavaScript library	HTML canvas		Not much interaction, but good visuals
Graph Gear	Viewer	Flash		A bit too funky for my taste – might be usable after a thorough visual review
jsViz	JavaScript library	HTML canvas, SVG, VML		Impressively fast
Hypergraph	Java applet	N/A		Slow and pokey

Miscellaneous

Link	Type	Formats	Rating	Notes
NodeBox	Desktop app	Multiple		Can be used to programmatically do just about anything, including graphs
Flare	Multi-purpose library	Flash		Can do several kinds of interactive data plots and directed/undirected graphs
Flow Map	Java desktop tool	Multiple		Unique, as far as I know

Geodata

Link	Type	Formats	Rating	Notes
gheat	Tile server for integration with Google Maps	HTML, PNG		Requires Python 2.5, PIL and whatnot