2. Dynamic Visualization Packages

This chapter provides an overview of the various packages, libraries, and other tools available for creating dynamic visualizations. The sections are organized by language, with JavaScript first because many packages for R and Python build on JavaScript libraries.

2.1. JavaScript

There are numerous data visualization libraries for JavaScript. This is a select list of ones that seem relevant to R and Python users:

• D3

  • Vega

  • Vega-lite

  • Observable

• Highcharts

• Bokeh

• Plotly

2.2. R

Animation:

• gganimate

• magick

• animation

Desktop or client-side (and sometimes also server-side):

• rbokeh

• Plotly

• ggplotly (by Plotly)

• flexdashboard

• Highcharter

Server-side only:

• Shiny

• Dash (by Plotly)

Other:

• htmlwidgets

2.3. Python

Animation:

• Matplotlib

• Pillow

Desktop or client-side (and sometimes also server-side):

• Bokeh

• Plotly

• Plotly Express

• mpld3

• pygal

• HoloViews

• Matplotlib

• Altair

Server-side only:

• ipywidgets (or Jupyter Widgets)

• Streamlit

• Dash (by Plotly)

• Shiny

• Voila

• Flask

• Django

Other (mostly GUI packages):

• tkinter

• PyGObject

• PySide