What is chart.js?

Chart.js is a free, open-source JavaScript library for making HTML-based charts. It is a simple yet flexible JavaScript charting for developers and designers maintained by the Chart.js community. This framework allows you to draw different types of charts by using the HTML5 canvas elements. Chart.js is used during the development of a website, an application, or a blog and is an excellent framework for data visualization that attracts the interests of the end-users.

Chart.js uses canvas elements to produce pre-built bars, pies, lines, and scattered charts. Data visualization using Chart.js requires some familiarity with HTML5 and JavaScript which makes it a highly adaptable library. This library supports 8 different types of graphs to develop advanced, fast-loading, and high-quality web applications customized according to your business needs and requirements. They are:

What is chart.js?
  • The Chart in a Line

  • Bar Graph

  • Radar Diagram

  • Polar Diagram

  • Diagram of a Pie

  • Doughnuts Chart

  • Bubbles Chart

  • Mixed

Development of highly customizable graphs using chart.js

Chart.js is a one-stop shop for generating graphs and charts and also adds motion to them to increase their visibility. By incorporating visualizations in your websites and text, you tend to make it more attractive and understandable for the visitors resulting in more business. To get a chart up and running, you require only a tiny amount of coding to be embedded. Charts contain a legend, a hover-up, and the ability to toggle between series.

To get a beautiful, responsive graph on your website or web app, you need to follow these steps:

  • Define where you wish to draw the graph on your page

  • Mention the type of graph you want to draw

  • Supply Chart.js with labels, data, and other options

Chart.js offers simple, clean, and eight different chart types that all can be customizable and animated. This framework provides great rendering performance across modern browsers; it also has mixed chart types that provide a clear visual distinction between datasets. It redraws charts on the window with a perfectly scaled granularity.

Produce beautiful outcomes in graphical representation using chart.js

The main benefit of Chart.js is that it is open-source and entirely free which means its zip file is available on GitHub. Chart.js is a fantastic JavaScript chart framework that can decipher a list of percentages and data. Let’s understand the steps to create a chart:

  • Include Chart.js in the HTML

    Include Chart.js in the HTML

    The first step is to provide a location in our HTML for the chart to be rendered. Chart.js relies on the availability of the HTML5 Canvas tag to generate and render the charts.

  • Create a Canvas

    Create a Canvas

    We need to represent the Chart class to create a chart. For this, we need to pass to the jQuery instance or 2nd context of the canvas to place or draw a chart.

  • Decide on the Type of Chart and Data

    Decide on the Type of Chart and Data

    You need to decide on the type of chart and then prepare the data accordingly. Data consists on datasets, labels, data values, backgroundColor, borderWidth, borderColor, and various other options.

  • Create a Graph

    Create a Graph

    After defining what type of graph is to be drawn, pass the data to that graph that we want to visualize to get a graph on your landing page.