javascript-d3How do I create a bubble chart using d3.js?

Creating a bubble chart using d3.js is relatively straightforward. The following example code will generate a basic bubble chart:

// Set the dimensions of the canvas / graph
var margin = {top: 30, right: 20, bottom: 30, left: 50},
    width = 600 - margin.left - margin.right,
    height = 270 - margin.top - margin.bottom;

// Parse the date / time
var parseDate = d3.time.format("%d-%b-%y").parse;

// Set the ranges
var x = d3.scale.linear().range([0, width]);
var y = d3.scale.linear().range([height, 0]);

// Define the axes
var xAxis = d3.svg.axis().scale(x)
    .orient("bottom").ticks(5);

var yAxis = d3.svg.axis().scale(y)
    .orient("left").ticks(5);

// Define the line
var valueline = d3.svg.line()
    .x(function(d) { return x(d.date); })
    .y(function(d) { return y(d.close); });

// Adds the svg canvas
var svg = d3.select("body")
    .append("svg")
        .attr("width", width + margin.left + margin.right)
        .attr("height", height + margin.top + margin.bottom)
    .append("g")
        .attr("transform",
              "translate(" + margin.left + "," + margin.top + ")");

// Get the data
d3.csv("data.csv", function(error, data) {
    data.forEach(function(d) {
        d.date = parseDate(d.date);
        d.close = +d.close;
    });

    // Scale the range of the data
    x.domain(d3.extent(data, function(d) { return d.date; }));
    y.domain([0, d3.max(data, function(d) { return d.close; })]);

    // Add the valueline path.
    svg.append("path")
        .attr("class", "line")
        .attr("d", valueline(data));

    // Add the scatterplot
    svg.selectAll("dot")
        .data(data)
      .enter().append("circle")
        .attr("r", 3.5)
        .attr("cx", function(d) { return x(d.date); })
        .attr("cy", function(d) { return y(d.close); });

    // Add the X Axis
    svg.append("g")
        .attr("class", "x axis")
        .attr("transform", "translate(0," + height + ")")
        .call(xAxis);

    // Add the Y Axis
    svg.append("g")
        .attr("class", "y axis")
        .call(yAxis);

});

To make this a bubble chart, we need to modify the code to create circles instead of lines. We can do this by changing the valueline variable to a circle and adding a radius attribute. The new code would look like this:

// Set the dimensions of the canvas / graph
var margin = {top: 30, right: 20, bottom: 30, left: 50},
    width = 600 - margin.left - margin.right,
    height = 270 - margin.top - margin.bottom;

// Parse the date / time
var parseDate = d3.time.format("%d-%b-%y").parse;

// Set the ranges
var x = d3.scale.linear().range([0, width]);
var y = d3.scale.linear().range([height, 0]);

// Define the axes
var xAxis = d3.svg.axis().scale(x)
    .orient("bottom").ticks(5);

var yAxis = d3.svg.axis().scale(y)
    .orient("left").ticks(5);

// Define the circle
var circle = d3.svg.circle()
    .x(function(d) { return x(d.date); })
    .y(function(d) { return y(d.close); })
    .radius(5);

// Adds the svg canvas
var svg = d3.select("body")
    .append("svg")
        .attr("width", width + margin.left + margin.right)
        .attr("height", height + margin.top + margin.bottom)
    .append("g")
        .attr("transform",
              "translate(" + margin.left + "," + margin.top + ")");

// Get the data
d3.csv("data.csv", function(error, data) {
    data.forEach(function(d) {
        d.date = parseDate(d.date);
        d.close = +d.close;
    });

    // Scale the range of the data
    x.domain(d3.extent(data, function(d) { return d.date; }));
    y.domain([0, d3.max(data, function(d) { return d.close; })]);

    // Add the circle
    svg.append("circle")
        .attr("class", "circle")
        .attr("d", circle(data));

    // Add the X Axis
    svg.append("g")
        .attr("class", "x axis")
        .attr("transform", "translate(0," + height + ")")
        .call(xAxis);

    // Add the Y Axis
    svg.append("g")
        .attr("class", "y axis")
        .call(yAxis);

});

Code explanation

• var margin: sets the dimensions of the canvas/graph
• var parseDate: parses the date/time
• var x and var y: sets the ranges
• var xAxis and var yAxis: defines the axes
• var circle: defines the circle
• var svg: adds the svg canvas
• d3.csv: gets the data
• x.domain and y.domain: scales the range of the data
• svg.append("circle"): adds the circle
• svg.append("g"): adds the X and Y axes

For more information on creating bubble charts with d3.js, see this tutorial.

Edit this code on GitHub