Integrating JavaScript Libraries into R for Dynamic Visualizations

a live-coding workshop on building interactive data visualizations, given as part of the SORTEE webinar series

SORTEE
R
JavaScript
data visualization
Authors
Affiliations

Samantha Csik

The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

An Bui

Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, UC Santa Barbara

Published

May 23, 2023

An interactive map, created using the `{leaflet}` package in R, that is centered over coastal Santa Barbara. Lobster-shaped markers denote subtidal kelp forest research sites. THe user moves around the viewport, zooms in/out, toggles on map and marker layers, and clicks on the makrers to display additional site-level information.

An interactive map made with the {leaflet} R package.


materials source code

Abstract

JavaScript, a programming language used to create dynamic web page content, is becoming an increasingly popular data science tool for building interactive data visualizations. However, learning an entirely new programming language can be time prohibitive and unrealistic for many researchers. Lucky for R users, there’s an app (well, R packages) for that!

In this hands-on live-coding workshop, we’ll explore the {DT}, {plotly}, and {leaflet} packages, which make JavaScript libraries more accessible for R-users looking to infuse their static visualizations with interactivity. Together, we’ll build an interactive table, plot, and map, and demonstrate how these outputs can be shared using open data science communication tools, like RMarkdown and Quarto.

Audience

This workshop was developed for and taught during the SORTEE Workshops and Webinar series.