What you can do after this course

Online Plotting

Use an online plotting tool.
That generates attractive and interactive plots.
As easily as with MS Excell or equivalent.
Host your plots (and their underlying data) on the web.

Easy interactive offline plotting

Generate the same attractive and interactive plots offline using either Matlab, Python, R or Javascript.
Easily host your offline generated plots online

Learn and use fundamental website building tools to -

Enhance the interactivity of your plots.
Host them on your own websites or blogs.

What is Plot.ly

Plotly is web based

-> example gif of using it

It is a plotting library that is written to work on the web (and inside web browsers). Using it is much like using any other plotting tool, such as MS Excel or the standard plotting tools in Matlab, Python or R. The main difference is that Plotly is web based. The plot that is generated is built to work on the web, using javascript, the programming language of the web. As you would have noticed, web sites are almost always interactive in some way - the web is designed to be interactive - and so plotting using a web based tool gives all of the possibilities of the interactivity and dynamics you have seen on the internet.

Plotly is universal

Plotly is designed so that every plot can be described with a simple text file that defines all of the data and characteristics of the plot. An example is below.

layout:
{
  yaxis:{type:"linear", range:[-1, 38]},
  xaxis:{type:"linear",range:[0.6, 6.3]},
height:532,
width:1040
}

You don't write these descriptions — plotly does that for you. But, because it is easy for computers to write these text descriptions, it is easy for other software packages to use plotly too.

Essentially, plotly speaks a universal language.

This means:

you can use plotly with Matlab, Python, R, javascript or with their web editor.
The essential functionality of plotly will not be affected by your choice of tool.
The plots will look the same no matter which language you are using.
The way you make the plots will be the same. And you can easily convert your code for using plotly in one lanugage to another. It is the same plotly engine underneath.

Plotly is free and open

All of the functions and services described above are free.

The source code of the plotly library and its implementations in Matlab, Python and R are free, open and available on GitHub.

Basic cloud based services are free.

Additional cloud based features are available through a paid subscription.

How to use this course

This course is modular. Each section is independent. You can pick and choose from them.

Section 1 — Plotting Online

Plotly's online plotting tool and hosting service.

Section 2 — Plotting Offline

Plotly's offline plotting with Matlab, Python or R. Also includes using these languages to interact with Plotly's online services.

Section 3 — Advanced interactivity and hosting yourself

More powerful interactivity and hosting plots on your own webpage or blog. Involves learning fundamental website building tools.

–> Venn Diagram of all possible functionalities.

Introduction