Learning D3 can take time, especially if you have no prior web development experience. Hence, D3 is probably not for people who want to just quickly expand their visualization skills. Now back to the top 3 reasons for learning D3

1. Lots of examples.

Here’s a secret about creating great data visualizations: take ideas from other examples you’ve liked! That’s often the most effective way to make you look like and become a master data visualizer.

And that’s the great news about D3: there are thousands – thousands! – of great D3 examples to work from.

See excellent curated lists of D3 examples here and here. Many of these examples are posted online because developers want others to re-use their code. Just be sure to give credit where credit is due 🙂

2. Vibrant open-source community.

When I have a question about D3 , I often Google the issue and then quickly find a great StackOverflow or blog post that addresses it. These extensive (free!) resources are available because of the very large and vibrant open-source community behind D3.