**Data-Driven Documents** (D3.js) is a JavaScript library for producing dynamic, interactive data visualizations in web browsers. **D3.js** API contains various methods which can be grouped into the following logical units - *Selections*, *Transitions*, *Arrays*, *Math*, *Color*, *Scales*, *SVG*, *Time*, *Layouts*, *Geography*, *Geometry*, *Behaviors*.
**D3.js** helps you visualize data by combining powerful visualization and interaction techniques with a data-driven approach to DOM manipulation. It also provides full capabilities of modern browsers by designing the right visual interface for your data.
**D3.js** version 1.0.0 was released back in 18 February 2011.
For those already familiar with HTML and CSS, *D3* is quick to learn. Unlike **Processing**, **Raphaël**, or **Protovis**, *D3's* vocabulary of graphical marks comes directly from web standards: HTML, SVG, and CSS - https://d3js.org/
There are over [20,000 **D3.js** examples](https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery) you could learn from, but you never know how approachable any given one will be! So, the question is - how do you build up your visualization from first principles? As you've probably seen, D3's API is massive, so lets call out a few of the utilities that will be particularly helpful early on:
With just some basic knowledge of the latest HTML5 features such as SVG and Canvas, you can dive into a world where a library like **D3.js** can bring data to life!
