WebGL vs SVG in JavaScript

Implement WebGL for increased speed, improved interactivity, and the ability to plot even more data!

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Plotly is a free and open-source graphing library for JavaScript. We recommend you read our Getting Started guide for the latest installation or upgrade instructions, then move on to our Plotly Fundamentals tutorials or dive straight in to some Basic Charts tutorials.

WebGL with 100,000 points

function gaussianRand() {
  var rand = 0;
  for (var i = 0; i < 6; i += 1) {
    rand += Math.random();
  }
  return (rand / 6)-0.5;
}

var X = [],
    Y = [],
    n = 100000,
    i;

for (i = 0; i < n; i += 1) {
  X.push(gaussianRand());
  Y.push(gaussianRand());
}

var data = [{
    type: "scattergl",
    mode: "markers",
    marker: {
        line: {
            width: 1,
            color: '#404040'}
    },
    x: X,
    y: Y
}]

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data)

WebGL with 1 Million points

function gaussianRand() {
  var rand = 0;
  for (var i = 0; i < 6; i += 1) {
    rand += Math.random();
  }
  return (rand / 6)-0.5;
}

var X = [],
    Y = [],
    n = 1000000,
    i;

for (i = 0; i < n; i += 1) {
  X.push(gaussianRand());
  Y.push(gaussianRand());
}

var data = [{
	type: "scattergl",
    mode: "markers",
    marker: {
		color : 'rgb(152, 0, 0)',
		line: {
			width: 1,
			color: 'rgb(0,0,0)'}
	},
    x: X,
    y: Y
}]

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data)

WebGL with many traces

function gaussianRand() {
  var rand = 0;
  for (var i = 0; i < 6; i += 1) {
    rand += Math.random();
  }
  return (rand / 6)-0.5;
}


var start_value = 0,
     stop_value = 1,
     point_num = 5000,
     trace_num = 10;
var curr_value = start_value;
var step = (stop_value - start_value) / (point_num - 1);

var data = [];
for (var j = 0; j < trace_num; j++) {
    var X = [],
         Y = [];
    for (var i = 0; i < point_num; i++) {
        X.push(curr_value + (step * i));
        Y.push((gaussianRand()*8)+(j*5));
    }
    data.push({
        type: "scattergl",
        mode: "line",
        x: X,
        y: Y
    })
}
var layout = {showlegend: false}
Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data = data, layout = layout)