Google Charts is a web service provided by Google that allows you to create a wide variety of interactive and customizable charts and graphs for displaying data on websites and web applications. It’s a free, JavaScript-based library that makes it easy to visualize data in a visual and engaging way. Google Charts provides various types of charts, including:
- Bar Charts: Horizontal and vertical bar charts to compare data.
- Line Charts: To show trends over time or categories.
- Pie Charts: For displaying data as a circle divided into segments, representing proportions.
- Area Charts: Similar to line charts but with areas under the lines filled with colors.
- Scatter Charts: To show the relationship between two variables with points on a graph.
- Geo Charts: Display data on geographical maps, either using regions or markers.
- Candlestick Charts: Often used in financial analysis to show price movements.
- Combo Charts: Combine different chart types in a single chart to represent multiple data series.
- Organization Charts: To create hierarchical charts, like organization or family trees.
- Gantt Charts: Used for project management to display a timeline of tasks and their dependencies.
Google Charts is easy to use, and it doesn’t require server-side processing or plugins. You can create charts by embedding simple JavaScript code into your web pages. Additionally, Google Charts can handle real-time data updates and animations to make your data come to life.
To use Google Charts, you include the Google Charts library in your HTML and use the provided API to create and customize your charts. Google provides extensive documentation, examples, and a playground to help you get started with creating interactive charts for your web projects.