JavaScript charts aren’t just pretty to look at; they make your application more interactive and give your customers the ability to get quick insights into their data. More interactive, visually appealing applications can result in higher user engagement and loyalty, which increases customer lifetime value.
As an app developer, it’s important to know the benefits of adding charts to your web apps and the factors you should consider when deciding which type of chart to use in each instance. In this post, we’ll walk through five reasons you should use JavaScript charts in your web apps to help you make better development decisions moving forward.
1) Ease of Implementation
One of JavaScript’s strengths is its ease of implementation-it can be added to any site within a matter of minutes. As web applications become more complex, they can offer easy-to-create visualizations with depth and subtlety you simply can’t find in static images.
JavaScript charting libraries are also frequently under active development; as a developer you won’t have to worry about compatibility issues when upgrading your apps. This freedom allows developers to experiment and iterate rapidly on their projects.
2) Customization
JavaScript charts are highly customizable, allowing you to change their default display options. Whether you’re looking for new ways to visualize data, or just want your charts to look better, JavaScript-based charts offer a lot of flexibility.
There’s no need for any kind of additional plugins; many third party libraries allow full customization while remaining easy to use and unobtrusive.
3) A Plethora of Chart Libraries Available
There are a plethora of chart libraries available to help you create your charts and embed them into your web app. SciChart is a chart library of JavaScript visualizations. There are over 50 data-visualization options you can use on your web app.
The library features multiple chart types, such as bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and more. All charts can be used in desktop, mobile, and tablet views.
The library is built with HTML5 Canvas technology and has been tested to work across all major browsers on Android devices. SciChart also provides developers with an option to save chart definitions as template strings.
4) Performance
Charts can be computationally expensive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them effectively. Chart libraries such as the one we mentioned above are a collection of pure-javascript charting utilities that can render even very complex data sets with just a few lines of code. This makes it an excellent choice for adding interactive visualizations and dashboards to your web applications.
5) Versatility
You can add graphs directly to your website or use it as a server-side charting library with Node.js, Express, and more. The best part? They work with any data source: SQL databases, NoSQL databases, XML files, and even remote REST APIs.
These charts can be used in any web browser, no matter what device or operating system it’s running on. With a JS charting library, you don’t have to worry about whether your app will run on Apple or Android devices, as long as they have a web browser with HTML 5 support.
