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What is Line Chart and When to Use It

Data Science

This lesson is part 3 of 29 in the course Data Visualization with R

A Line Chart or Line Graph is the most popular type of the data visualization. It displays information as a series of data points called ‘markers’ connected by straight line segments. Usually, a Line Chart shows a dynamics of the displayed value in time (in case of Cartesian Chart) or by X (in case of Scatter Chart).

The following line chart shows the Moody’s Corporate Bonds yields for Baa and Aaa corporate bonds.

We can also present the same chart as a spline, which consists of a set of points connected with a curve. Notice that the data points are connected with a fitted curve instead of straight lines.

When to use it

The line chart is primarily suitable when you want to visualize trends and movements over time, where the dimension values are evenly spaced, such as months, quarters, or fiscal years.

Your data set must consist of at least two data points to draw a line. A data set with a single value is displayed as a point.

Advantages

The line chart is easy to understand and gives an instant perception of trends.

Disadvantages

Using more than a few lines in a line chart makes the line chart cluttered and hard to interpret. For this reason, avoid using more than two or three measures.

Previous Lesson

‹ When to Use Bar Chart, Column Chart, and Area Chart

Next Lesson

What are Pie Chart and Donut Chart and When to Use Them ›

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In this Course

  • Overview of Data Visualization
  • When to Use Bar Chart, Column Chart, and Area Chart
  • What is Line Chart and When to Use It
  • What are Pie Chart and Donut Chart and When to Use Them
  • How to Read Scatter Chart and Bubble Chart
  • What is a Box Plot and How to Read It
  • Understanding Japanese Candlestick Charts and OHLC Charts
  • Understanding Treemap, Heatmap and Other Map Charts
  • Visualization in Data Science
  • Graphic Systems in R
  • Accessing Built-in Datasets in R
  • How to Create a Scatter Plot in R
  • Create a Scatter Plot in R with Multiple Groups
  • Creating a Bar Chart in R
  • Creating a Line Chart in R
  • Plotting Multiple Datasets on One Chart in R
  • Adding Details and Features to R Plots
  • Introduction to ggplot2
  • Grammar of Graphics in ggplot
  • Data Import and Basic Manipulation in R – German Credit Dataset
  • Create ggplot Graph with German Credit Data in R
  • Splitting Plots with Facets in ggplots
  • ggplot2 – Chart Aesthetics and Position Adjustments in R
  • Creating a Line Chart in ggplot 2 in R
  • Add a Statistical Layer on Line Chart in ggplot2
  • stat_summary for Statistical Summary in ggplot2 R
  • Facets for ggplot2 Charts in R (Faceting Layer)
  • Coordinates in ggplot2 in R
  • Changing Themes (Look and Feel) in ggplot2 in R

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