Creating Scatter Charts with Svelte and D3

Creating a scatter chart with Svelte

In this tutorial, we will be creating a scatter chart exploring the data from the world bank by looking at how the life expectancy changes with increasing GDP per capita.

You can download the data here
We will use d3 scale functions to map our data into our chart dimensions. i.e scaleLinear to map life expectancy on the y-axis, scaleLog for mapping GDP per capita on the x-axis, scaleSqrt to map population size to circle radius and scaleOrdinal to map a color to each continent.

<script>
  import { onMount } from 'svelte';
  import { csv } from 'd3-fetch';
  import { scaleLinear, scaleLog, scaleSqrt, scaleOrdinal } from 'd3-scale';
  import { extent } from 'd3-array';

  // 1. Getting the data

  let data;

  // We will use csv from d3 to fetch the data and we'll sort it by descending gdp
  // download data on: https://datavisualizationwithsvelte.com/data/world_bank.csv
  onMount(() => {
    csv('/data/world_bank.csv')
      .then((unsorted_data) => unsorted_data.sort((a, b) => b.gdp - a.gdp))
      .then((sorted_data) => (data = sorted_data));
  });

  const continents = [
    'North America',
    'South America',
    'Asia',
    'Europe',
    'Africa',
    'Oceania'
  ];

  // 2. Dimensions, Margins & Scales
  let width;
  const height = 500;
  const margin = { top: 40, right: 20, bottom: 20, left: 35 };

  let xScale, yScale, radiusScale;

  // We will be using scale functions from d3 to map our data points
  // within the dimensions of our svg.
  // Set the scale functions when the data is available.
  $: if (data) {
    xScale = scaleLog()
      .domain(extent(data, (d) => +d.gdp / +d.population))
      .range([margin.left, width - margin.right]);

    yScale = scaleLinear()
      .domain(extent(data, (d) => +d.life_expectancy))
      .range([height - margin.bottom, margin.top]);

    // It's a better practice to set the area of a circle rather than its radius proportional
    // to the data thus we will use scaleSqrt function from d3 to do this.
    radiusScale = scaleSqrt()
      .domain(extent(data, (d) => +d.population))
      .range([2, 20]);
  }

  // We will use d3 scaleOrdinal for mapping a color to each continent.
  const colors = scaleOrdinal()
    .range([
      '#e0dff7',
      '#EFB605',
      '#FFF84A',
      '#FF0266',
      '#45FFC8',
      '#FFC9C9',
      '#A8a1ff',
      '#2172FF',
      '#45FFC8'
    ])
    .domain([
      'All',
      'America',
      'Asia',
      'Europe',
      'South Ameria',
      'Oceania',
      'Africa'
    ]);
</script>

<div
  class="flex max-w-3xl flex-col items-center lg:flex-row"
  bind:clientWidth={width}>
  <div class="relative">
    {#if data && width}
      <svg {width} {height}>
        <g>
          {#each data as d, i}
            <circle
              class={d.continent.split(' ').join('')}
              cx={xScale(+d.gdp / +d.population)}
              cy={yScale(+d.life_expectancy)}
              r={radiusScale(+d.population)}
              fill={colors(d.continent)} />
          {/each}
        </g>
      </svg>
    {/if}
  </div>
</div>

At this stage this is how our chart looks like:

Now we have our data mapped, let’s add x and y axes & labels

We will create a generic axis component that we can reuse for different charts. By setting the position prop we can decide whether this will be a bottom or horizontal axis.

<!-- Axis.svelte -->
<script>
  import { select } from 'd3-selection';
  import { axisBottom, axisLeft } from 'd3-axis';
  import { format } from 'd3-format';

  export let width;
  export let height;
  export let margin;
  export let position;
  export let scale;
  export let tick_outer;
  export let tick_number;
  export let to_format;
  export let no_domain;
  export let formatString = '$.0f';
  export let format_mobile;

  const formatMobile = (tick) => {
    return "'" + tick.toString().slice(13, 15);
  };

  const formatter = format(formatString);
  let transform;
  let g;

  $: {
    select(g).selectAll('*').remove();

    let axis;

    if (width && scale) {
      switch (position) {
        case 'bottom':
          if (format_mobile) {
            axis = axisBottom(scale)
              .tickFormat((d) => formatMobile(d))
              .tickSizeOuter(tick_outer || 0);
            transform = `translate(0, ${height - margin.bottom})`;
          } else {
            axis = axisBottom(scale)
              .ticks(tick_number || 8)
              .tickSizeOuter(tick_outer || 0);
            transform = `translate(0, ${height - margin.bottom})`;
          }
          break;
        case 'left':
          if (to_format) {
            axis = axisLeft(scale)
              .tickSizeOuter(tick_outer || 0)
              .tickFormat((d) => formatter(d))
              .ticks(tick_number || 5);
            transform = `translate(${margin.left}, 0)`;
          } else {
            axis = axisLeft(scale)
              .ticks(tick_number || 5)
              .tickSizeOuter(tick_outer || 0);
            transform = `translate(${margin.left}, 0)`;
          }
      }

      if (no_domain) {
        select(g).call(axis).select('.domain').remove();
      } else {
        select(g).call(axis);
      }
    }
  }
</script>

<g class="axis" bind:this={g} {transform} />

<style>
  .axis {
    shape-rendering: crispEdges;
  }
</style>

Axis Labels

Let’s also create a Labels component so we can use whenever we want to add labels to our axis.

<!-- Labels.svelte -->
<script>
  export let width, height, margin, label, yoffset, xoffset;
  export let labelforx = false;
  export let labelfory = false;

  export let textanchor = 'end';
</script>

{#if width}
  <g class="labels-x-y text-sm">
    {#if labelforx}
      <text
        fill="white"
        x={+margin.left + width - 66 + xoffset}
        y={+height + margin.top - 40 + yoffset}
        text-anchor={textanchor}>{label}</text>
    {/if}
    {#if labelfory}
      <text
        fill="white"
        x={+margin.left + xoffset}
        y={-margin.top + 80 + yoffset}
        text-anchor={textanchor}>{label}</text>
    {/if}
  </g>
{/if}

Data legends

We will also add data legends for circle radius size and colors;

Radial Legend

<!-- RadialLegend.svelte -->
<script>
  export let width, height, radiusScale;
  export let radialLegendData = [30000000, 300000000, 1000000000];

  function format_number(d) {
    if (d < 1000000000) {
      const div = +d / +1000000 + 'M';
      return div;
    } else {
      const div = +d / +1000000000 + 'B';
      return div;
    }
  }
</script>

<g fill="red" transform="translate(62,100)">
  <text class="fill-gray-200 text-lg" x="0" y="-42" text-anchor="middle"
    >Population</text>
  {#each radialLegendData as d}
    <circle
      class="radial-legend-circle fill-transparent stroke-gray-100"
      cx=""
      cy={10 - radiusScale(d)}
      r={radiusScale(d)} />

    <text class="fill-gray-200 text-xs" x="40" y={13 - 2 * radiusScale(d)}
      >{format_number(d)}</text>

    <line
      class=" stroke-gray-300 stroke-1"
      x1="0"
      x2="35"
      y1={10 - 2 * radiusScale(d)}
      y2={10 - 2 * radiusScale(d)} />
  {/each}
</g>

<style>
  .radial-legend-circle {
    stroke-dasharray: 2 2;
    box-sizing: border-box;
  }
</style>

Category Legend

<script>
  export let legend_data, legend_color_function;
</script>

{#each legend_data as d, i}
  <rect
    x="25"
    y={i * 30 + 10}
    width="20"
    height="20"
    fill={legend_color_function(d)} />
  <text class="text fill-gray-200 text-base" x="60" y={25 + i * 30}
    >{d[0] + d.slice(1).toLowerCase()}
  </text>
{/each}

And we will import those and add to our svg. Here is how our final ScatterPlot.svelte file looks like.

<!-- ScatterPlot.svelte -->
<script>
  import { onMount } from 'svelte';
  import { csv } from 'd3-fetch';
  import { scaleLinear, scaleLog, scaleSqrt, scaleOrdinal } from 'd3-scale';
  import { extent } from 'd3-array';
  import Axis from '$lib/components/Basics/Axis.svelte';
  import Labels from '$lib/components/Basics/Labels.svelte';
  import RadialLegend from '$lib/components/Basics/RadialLegend.svelte';
  import CategoryLegend from '$lib/components/Basics/CategoryLegend.svelte';
  // 1. Getting the data
  let data;

  onMount(() => {
    csv('/data/world_bank.csv')
      .then((unsorted_data) => unsorted_data.sort((a, b) => b.gdp - a.gdp))
      .then((sorted_data) => (data = sorted_data));
  });

  $: console.log(data);

  const continents = [
    'North America',
    'Asia',
    'Europe',
    'South Ameria',
    'Oceania',
    'Africa'
  ];

  // 2. Dimensions, Margins & Scales
  let width;
  const height = 500;
  const margin = { top: 40, right: 200, bottom: 20, left: 35 };

  let xScale, yScale, radiusScale;

  $: if (data) {
    xScale = scaleLog()
      .domain(extent(data, (d) => +d.gdp / +d.population))
      .range([margin.left, width - margin.right]);

    yScale = scaleLinear()
      .domain(extent(data, (d) => +d.life_expectancy))
      .range([height - margin.bottom, margin.top]);

    radiusScale = scaleSqrt()
      .domain(extent(data, (d) => +d.population))
      .range([2, 20]);
  }

  const colors = scaleOrdinal()
    .range([
      '#e0dff7',
      '#EFB605',
      '#FFF84A',
      '#FF0266',
      '#45FFC8',
      '#FFC9C9', // replaced "#991C71",
      '#A8a1ff',
      '#2172FF',
      '#45FFC8'
    ])
    .domain([
      'All',
      'America',
      'Asia',
      'Europe',
      'South Ameria',
      'Oceania',
      'Africa'
    ]);
</script>

<div
  class="flex max-w-3xl flex-col items-center lg:flex-row"
  bind:clientWidth={width}>
  <div class="relative">
    {#if data && width}
      <svg {width} {height}>
        <g>
          <Axis {width} {height} {margin} scale={xScale} position="bottom" />
          <Axis {width} {height} {margin} scale={yScale} position="left" />
          <Labels
            labelforx={true}
            {width}
            {height}
            {margin}
            yoffset={-30}
            xoffset={-170}
            label={'GDP per capita →'} />
          <Labels
            labelfory={true}
            textanchor={'start'}
            {width}
            {height}
            {margin}
            yoffset={10}
            xoffset={10}
            label={'Life Expectancy ↑'} />
          {#each data as d, i}
            <circle
              class={d.continent.split(' ').join('')}
              cx={xScale(+d.gdp / +d.population)}
              cy={yScale(+d.life_expectancy)}
              r={radiusScale(+d.population)}
              fill={colors(d.continent)} />
          {/each}
        </g>
        <g transform="translate({width - margin.right},300)">
          <RadialLegend {width} {height} {margin} {radiusScale} />
        </g>
        <g transform="translate({width - margin.right},130)">
          <CategoryLegend
            legend_data={continents}
            legend_color_function={colors}
            space={80} />
        </g>
      </svg>
    {/if}
  </div>
</div>

Next tutorial:

Adding tooltips with quadtree algorithm