D3.js vs Leaflet

Overview

D3.js

Stacks2.0K

Followers1.7K

Votes653

GitHub Stars111.7K

Forks22.9K

Leaflet

Stacks1.5K

Followers1.1K

Votes112

GitHub Stars43.9K

Forks6.0K

D3.js vs Leaflet: What are the differences?

D3.js and Leaflet are two popular JavaScript libraries used for data visualization and map creation on the web. While they have some similarities in terms of functionality, there are several key differences between them.

1. Data Visualization vs Map Creation: D3.js is primarily focused on data visualization, providing a wide range of tools and functionalities to create interactive charts, graphs, and visual representations of data. On the other hand, Leaflet is specifically designed for creating interactive maps and geospatial visualizations.

2. Generality vs Specificity: D3.js is a highly flexible and powerful library that allows users to manipulate data and design custom visualizations using SVG, HTML, and CSS. It provides a lower-level programming interface, allowing developers to have greater control over every aspect of the visualization. In contrast, Leaflet offers a more streamlined and specific approach, providing a set of pre-built map-related functionalities, making it easier for developers who are specifically interested in creating maps.

3. Code Complexity: Due to its more general-purpose nature, D3.js tends to have a steeper learning curve and can be more complex to use compared to Leaflet. D3.js requires a deep understanding of JavaScript and SVG, as well as knowledge of data manipulation and visualization concepts. Leaflet, on the other hand, has a simpler API and is easier to grasp for those who are new to web mapping.

4. Community and Documentation: D3.js has a large and active community of developers, and it is widely regarded as a powerful tool for data visualization. As a result, there are plenty of tutorials, examples, and resources available online to help users get started and troubleshoot any issues they may encounter. While Leaflet also has a thriving community, it may not be as extensive as D3.js's.

5. Interactivity and Animations: D3.js provides extensive support for creating interactive and animated visualizations. It allows users to add interactivity to the visual elements, such as tooltips, transitions, and event handling. Leaflet, on the other hand, focuses more on map-related interactivity, providing features like zooming, panning, and pop-ups for markers.

6. Geospatial Features: While D3.js has some geospatial capabilities, such as projections and geoJSON support, it does not have as comprehensive geospatial functionalities as Leaflet. Leaflet provides built-in support for handling map tiles, overlays, and geospatial data, making it a more suitable choice for projects that heavily rely on geographic information.

In Summary, D3.js is a powerful and flexible library for data visualization, offering extensive control and customizability, whereas Leaflet is a more specialized library specifically tailored for creating interactive maps with simpler APIs and a focus on geospatial features.

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Advice on D3.js, Leaflet

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.

56k views56k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

D3.js	Leaflet
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.	Leaflet is an open source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. It is developed by Vladimir Agafonkin of MapBox with a team of dedicated contributors. Weighing just about 30 KB of gzipped JS code, it has all the features most developers ever need for online maps.
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.	Tile layers;Drag panning with inertia;Scroll wheel zoom;Multi-touch zoom;Zoom animation;Hardware acceleration on iOS;Smart polyline/polygon rendering
Statistics
GitHub Stars 111.7K	GitHub Stars 43.9K
GitHub Forks 22.9K	GitHub Forks 6.0K
Stacks 2.0K	Stacks 1.5K
Followers 1.7K	Followers 1.1K
Votes 653	Votes 112
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	Pros 34 Light weight 29 Free 12 Evolutive via plugins 11 OpenStreetMap 10 Strong community
Integrations
JavaScript React Native AngularJS React Bootstrap	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to D3.js, Leaflet?

Google Maps

Create rich applications and stunning visualisations of your data, leveraging the comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usability of Google Maps and a modern web platform that scales as you grow.

Mapbox

We make it possible to pin travel spots on Pinterest, find restaurants on Foursquare, and visualize data on GitHub.

Highcharts

Highcharts currently supports line, spline, area, areaspline, column, bar, pie, scatter, angular gauges, arearange, areasplinerange, columnrange, bubble, box plot, error bars, funnel, waterfall and polar chart types.

Plotly.js

It is a standalone Javascript data visualization library, and it also powers the Python and R modules named plotly in those respective ecosystems (referred to as Plotly.py and Plotly.R). It can be used to produce dozens of chart types and visualizations, including statistical charts, 3D graphs, scientific charts, SVG and tile maps, financial charts and more.

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world.

OpenLayers

An opensource javascript library to load, display and render maps from multiple sources on web pages.

Chart.js

Visualize your data in 6 different ways. Each of them animated, with a load of customisation options and interactivity extensions.

Recharts

Quickly build your charts with decoupled, reusable React components. Built on top of SVG elements with a lightweight dependency on D3 submodules.

ECharts

It is an open source visualization library implemented in JavaScript, runs smoothly on PCs and mobile devices, and is compatible with most current browsers.