Data Visualization Using Base Graphics

In [1]:

    

#Let's get some data
povertyDf = read.csv("./data/world_poverty_in_millions.csv")


    

In [2]:

    

#lets make the dates into years
getYear = function(x) { as.numeric(format(as.Date(x), '%Y')) }
povertyDf$Year = unlist(lapply(povertyDf$Date, getYear))


    

In [3]:

    

#order the data by date asc
povertyDf = povertyDf[order(povertyDf$Year, decreasing = FALSE),]


    

In [4]:

    

head(povertyDf, 5)


    

    






Date
Value
Year

	
14
1981-12-31
1903.70   
1981      
	
13
1984-12-31
1859.38   
1984      
	
12
1987-12-31
1746.55   
1987      
	
11
1990-12-31
1850.54   
1990      
	
10
1993-12-31
1855.44   
1993      

In [5]:

    

#resize the default plot size so we can actually read it on screen
options(repr.plot.width=8, repr.plot.height=4)


    

In [6]:

    

plot(povertyDf$Year, povertyDf$Value)


    

In [7]:

    

#A very basic barchart. Just the two data sets. 
barplot(povertyDf$Value, names.arg = povertyDf$Year)


    

In [8]:

    

# adding in some labels
barplot(povertyDf$Value, names.arg = povertyDf$Year, 
        main = "World Poverty in Millions", 
        xlab = "Year", ylab = "People in Poverty (Millions)")


    

In [9]:

    

#lets make things a little prettier using par()
par(bg = "#EDFBFF", las = 1, col.lab = "#262626", col.axis = "#262626",
    cex.axis = 0.9, cex.lab = 1.25, cex.main = 1.5)


    

In [10]:

    

#lets tweak the look a little bit more
barplot(povertyDf$Value, names.arg = povertyDf$Year,
    main = "World Poverty in Millions",
    xlab = "Year", ylab = "People in Poverty (Millions)",
    ylim = c(0, 2000), col = "#00B01A")


    

In [11]:

    

#let's try a line chart instead | type l = line chart
plot(povertyDf$Year, povertyDf$Value, type = "l",
    main = "World Poverty in Millions",
    xlab = "Year", ylab = "People in Poverty (Millions)",
    ylim = c(0, 2000), xlim = c(1980, 2013), col = "#00475E", lwd = 3)


    

In [12]:

    

# we can save plots too | Supported formats include: svg(), pdf(), jpeg(), png()...
png("data/Poverty_In_Millions.png", width = 800, height = 1000)
barplot(povertyDf$Value, names.arg = povertyDf$Year,
    main = "World Poverty in Millions",
    xlab = "Year", ylab = "People in Poverty (Millions)",
    ylim = c(0, 2000), col = "#00B01A")
dev.off() #turns off the plot saving


    

    





png: 2