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  1. Stackups
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  4. Charting Libraries
  5. MetricsGraphics.js vs Plotly

MetricsGraphics.js vs Plotly

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

MetricsGraphics.js
MetricsGraphics.js
Stacks3
Followers22
Votes2
Plotly.js
Plotly.js
Stacks399
Followers694
Votes69
GitHub Stars17.9K
Forks1.9K

MetricsGraphics.js vs Plotly: What are the differences?

MetricsGraphics.js: D3-based library optimized for visualizing time-series data. MetricsGraphics.js is a library built on top of D3 that is optimized for visualizing and laying out time-series data. It provides a simple way to produce common types of graphics in a principled, consistent and responsive way. The library currently supports line charts, scatterplots and histograms as well as features like rug plots and basic linear regression; Plotly: The Web's fastest growing charting libraries. Plotly.js is the only open-source JavaScript library for data visualization in the sciences and engineering. Open-source interfaces to Plotly.js are available for Python, R, MATLAB, and React.

MetricsGraphics.js and Plotly can be categorized as "Charting Libraries" tools.

Some of the features offered by MetricsGraphics.js are:

  • Line Chart
  • Multi-Line Chart
  • Few Observations

On the other hand, Plotly provides the following key features:

  • Feature parity with MATLAB/matplotlib graphing
  • Online chart editor
  • Fully interactive (hover, zoom, pan)

MetricsGraphics.js and Plotly are both open source tools. It seems that Plotly with 10.4K GitHub stars and 1.21K forks on GitHub has more adoption than MetricsGraphics.js with 7.11K GitHub stars and 497 GitHub forks.

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Advice on MetricsGraphics.js, Plotly.js

Steve
Steve

Lead Software Tools Engineer at Leonardo UK

Oct 30, 2020

Review

I would specifically recommend basing your application on Pandas which will handle the vast majority of the work for you. You will be amazed at what you will be able to get done with only a few lines of code.

Pandas can load the data from either Excel xslx files or csv files (and a lot of other places)

If you structure your code well you can have a cross platform command line program, a GUI desktop program, a Jupyter Notebook and a web service all with the vast majority of the code in common.

A jupyter notebook is a great place to start developing your code and may be all that you need.

Some plug-ins & resources that can help:

  • pandas-summary (for a rapid overview of the data): https://github.com/mouradmourafiq/pandas-summary
  • pandasgui (for exploring what you would like to do): https://github.com/adamerose/pandasgui
  • Pandas-Bokeh (plotting): https://github.com/PatrikHlobil/Pandas-Bokeh
  • plot.ly (plotting): https://plotly.com/python/pandas-backend/
  • wxPython (for a desktop GUI): https://wxpython.org/
8.83k views8.83k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

MetricsGraphics.js
MetricsGraphics.js
Plotly.js
Plotly.js

MetricsGraphics.js is a library built on top of D3 that is optimized for visualizing and laying out time-series data. It provides a simple way to produce common types of graphics in a principled, consistent and responsive way. The library currently supports line charts, scatterplots and histograms as well as features like rug plots and basic linear regression.

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.

Line Chart;Multi-Line Chart;Few Observations;Small Range of Integers;Annotations;Some Percentages;Some Currency;X-Axis Not Time, Animated;Glorious Graphic;Multi-Line Linked
Feature parity with MATLAB/matplotlib graphing; Online chart editor; Fully interactive (hover, zoom, pan); SVG and WebGL backends; Publication-quality image export
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
17.9K
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
1.9K
Stacks
3
Stacks
399
Followers
22
Followers
694
Votes
2
Votes
69
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 2
    Simple
Pros
  • 16
    Bindings to popular languages like Python, Node, R, etc
  • 10
    Integrated zoom and filter-out tools in charts and maps
  • 9
    Great support for complex and multiple axes
  • 8
    Powerful out-of-the-box featureset
  • 6
    Beautiful visualizations
Cons
  • 18
    Terrible document
Integrations
D3.js
D3.js
Python
Python
React
React
MATLAB
MATLAB
Jupyter
Jupyter
Julia
Julia

What are some alternatives to MetricsGraphics.js, Plotly.js?

D3.js

D3.js

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.

Highcharts

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.

Chart.js

Chart.js

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

Recharts

Recharts

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

ECharts

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.

ZingChart

ZingChart

The most feature-rich, fully customizable JavaScript charting library available used by start-ups and the Fortune 100 alike.

amCharts

amCharts

amCharts is an advanced charting library that will suit any data visualization need. Our charting solution include Column, Bar, Line, Area, Step, Step without risers, Smoothed line, Candlestick, OHLC, Pie/Donut, Radar/ Polar, XY/Scatter/Bubble, Bullet, Funnel/Pyramid charts as well as Gauges.

CanvasJS

CanvasJS

Lightweight, Beautiful & Responsive Charts that make your dashboards fly even with millions of data points! Self-Hosted, Secure & Scalable charts that render across devices.

AnyChart

AnyChart

AnyChart is a flexible JavaScript (HTML5) based solution that allows you to create interactive and great looking charts. It is a cross-browser and cross-platform charting solution intended for everybody who deals with creation of dashboard, reporting, analytics, statistical, financial or any other data visualization solutions.

ApexCharts

ApexCharts

A modern JavaScript charting library to build interactive charts and visualizations with simple API.

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