Now that we've introduced you to the basics of the D3 library, it's time to go more in depth about the goal of this course, and some of the more powerful techniques that you'll need to know in order to use D3 effectively. Our intention in these lessons is to expose you to as much of the D3 library as possible over the time we have.
Try not to be intimidated if it feels like a lot is being thrown at you! The important thing here is to realize that this course isn't about rote learning, which really means thoughtlessly memorizing long lists of things. You're not expected to remember every single method and name. The important things are to remember the syntax, how things are laid out on the page, and how to organize your code to produce the effect you want. There are hundreds of methods in the D3 library, and so you're probably going to have to look up some of the more obscure ones, although hopefully by the end things like max(var), data(dataset), enter(), exit() and select() will be familiar!
We think the best way to learn anything creative is by doing, not by reading; so for this section of the course you'll be working towards a final project in groups of 3 or 4 students! This project is how you'll be being assessed, and the mark will be competitive! We wanted to get you working on the project as early as possible, but until you know how to make dynamic objects it'll be hard to do what we're asking you for.
The goal of the project is to have you produce a complete visualization of a set of data of your choice. In addition to traditional assesment, there will be three awards for outstanding visualizations. These are:
This prize will be awarded for the most adventurous team, who really do something outside of the scope of the lessons!
This prize is awarded for the code with the best structure. This includes the names of variables and methods, use of chaining, and readability.
This prize will be awarded to the presentation that wins a vote at the end of the class!
To get top marks, you'll need to win one of the prizes, but really high marks can still be achieved without winning a prize. A portion of your marks will be relative to your placing in the voting! Each student will vote for their favourite 3 projects, and this data will be used to present the winner!
Author : Ben Ryves