Software for time series visualization

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1 Software for time series visualization April 2016 I. Web-based The software packages listed in this section allow the visualizing time series data on websites. Recommended software packages are Plotly and D3 (and/or it s derivatives). Plotly Proprietary online software for all kinds of data visualizations and dashboard creation. Integrates nicely with R, Matlab, Python, Excel etc. MetricGraphics.js Open source lightweight JavaScript library for time series visualization built on top of D3.js (below). It is optimized to be as simple to use as possible and is highly suitable for someone who is new to JavaScript. Given the simplicity of its code, it provides a surprising degree of flexibility, but lacks support for (good) real-time updates of the data. There is a package available for integration with R. Facette facette.io Free and simple real-time visualization of time series from various source formats. 1

2 Data-Driven Documents (D3.js) d3js.org Open source JavaScript library with an enormous range of dynamic, interactive data visualization capabilities. Custom visualizations can be created with the hundreds of functions available. Many online tutorials are available. The library which is built on top of D3, is optimized for visualizing time series data. The Cubism.js plugin (square.github.io/cubism/) allows clear visualization of multivariate time series by automatically scaling the plots for rapid comparison. Rickshaw Another open source JavaScript toolkit built on top of D3.js that is optimized for time series visualisation. It requires a bit more familiarity with JavaScript than MetricsGraphics.js but is on the other hand much more flexible. It is designed with interactivity and real-time data support in mind and provides simple yet powerful graphs. AnyChart A proprietary JavaScript-based solution for interactive data visualization and dashboard creation with fast performance even with large amounts of data. 2

3 Envision.js An (open-source) JavaScript library for creating simple interactive time series visualizations. It is designed especially with financial applications in mind. Provides a limited amount of interactivity but works well with real-time data. Simple to use but not very flexible. Quadrigram A free and user friendly (no code) tool for creating interactive data visualizations using Google Drive to store the data. Custom features are available with the paid version. ZingChart A JavaScript library for quickly creating high-quality data visualizations with big data, real time and interactivity features. Works well on mobile devices too. The free version has all the features but includes a watermark. 3

4 Charted A free time series visualization tool with a minimal set of features for simplicity. A link to the CSV, TSV or Google spreadsheet is supplied and the graph is automatically updated every 30 mins. Datawrapper A simple, code-free tool for creating charts from Excel, OpenOffice or CSV formats. Interactive charts can be embedded within websites at a cost, but a free version allows one to download the charts in PNG format. 4

5 II. Desktop-based The software packages listed in this section allow the visualization and analysis of time-series data using installed software for the purpose of on-screen analysis and/or presentation. Recommended software packages are SAS Visual Analytics, Datawatch and Infragistics Ultimate. SAS Visual Analytics Proprietary software with advanced data visualization capabilities along with analysis, prediction and decision making features. STATA, NCSS Commercial software, integrated with excel, similar to MATLAB's layout but seems to solely focus on statistics and focuses less on programming. WEKA wiki.pentaho.com/display/datamining/time+series+analysis+and+forecasting+with+weka Open source package implemented in Java. Provides a GUI but it is also possible to use the library directly, provided that one knows the Java programming language. The package also features powerful prediction features. Zaitun Zaitun Time Series is a free and open source software designed for statistical analysis of time series data. It provides easy way for time series modelling and forecasting. 5

6 Datawatch A commercial data visualization tool with many features. Time series can be interactively visualized and analysed in real time and conditions can be set up for visual alerts. Allows dashboard creation. Gephi gephi.org A free tool for visualizing and exploring data networks and how they evolve over time. Infragistics Ultimate A commercial set of professional developer tools for developing interactive data visualization applications for the web, Windows, Windows phone, ios and Android. 6

7 III. Web/desktop-based The software packages listed in this section allow the visualization of time series data using installed software or using web-based applications. Tableau is recommended for non-financial time series and Bloomberg Professional is recommended for financial time series visualization. Tableau Proprietary software with a wide range of advanced analysis and visualization capabilities. Click, drag and drop interface with no programming. Can be integrated with R, Excel and more. Bloomberg Professional (Bloomberg Terminal) A very expensive software and hardware system for monitoring and analysing real time financial market data. The system also allows users to place trades and provides news and features a secure messaging system. 7