The Ultimate Guide to PHP Charts: Intro, Benefits, and Key Features
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More chaptersPHP charts are an effective way to display statistics on PHP applications, as they are more visually engaging (and easier to understand) than plain text. Also, since web users often have short attention spans, PHP charts enable web users to comprehend data – quickly – at a glance.
According to W3Techs, a website that covers the usage of types of technologies on the web, PHP is used by 76.4% of all websites (whose server-side programming language is publicly known). For this reason, there are many PHP charts and graph libraries out there, which simplify the process of incorporating them into PHP applications.
In this article, we discuss what PHP charts are and the different ways that you can integrate them into your PHP web applications.
What Are PHP Charts?
PHP charts are pre-written snippets of code that, when imported into a PHP project, visually represent data in a chart.
PHP charts typically function as libraries, where PHP developers can choose from a variety of chart styles. This way, PHP developers can visually represent data in a way that makes the most sense to the readers.
Many PHP charts also have interactive features, such as the ability to craft custom animations and click events. Click events occur when a user clicks or taps on an interactive element within a PHP chart.
Types of PHP Charts
Below are the most common types of PHP charts that PHP developers can integrate into their PHP applications:
Pie and Funnel Charts
Pie and funnel charts visually represent data in the form of a full circle, a doughnut (same as the circle, but with a hole in the middle), a cascading funnel (that gets narrower from top to bottom), and a pyramid.
Column and Bar Charts
Column and bar charts visually represent data in the form of horizontal or vertical rectangles placed next to each other. PHP developers can also create stacked variations of column and bar charts, where each block contains more than one type of data.
Line and Area Charts
Line charts visually represent data by connecting a series of data points together to create a line. The line featured in a line chart can connect to each data point in a straight line, in a curved line, or in a step line.
Area charts, combining the appearance of line and bar charts, visually represent how numeral values change over a second variable, typically a time period. The result is a chart that resembles the appearance of a mountain.
Financial Charts
Also called candlestick charts, financial charts visually represent the potential price movement of a particular item, usually currency or stock. They represent the high, low, opening, and closing price of an item during a specific time period.
Scatter and Bubble Charts
Scatter and bubble charts visually represent data as a series of blocks of circles on a horizontal plane.
Why Are PHP Charts Important in PHP Development?
PHP charts are easy to use and customizable and help speed up the development process. They also convey complex information in an easy-to-understand way, making it easier for readers to identify trends and patterns.
Speed Up Web Development
Without having to write manual code from scratch, PHP developers can create data-rich, visually striking, and interactive PHP charts quickly. This helps speed up the PHP development process, resulting in a faster turnaround for clients – without compromising on quality, either.
Additionally, PHP charts can be duplicated and reused elsewhere, thus reducing time spent on unnecessary manual labor.
Enjoy Greater Flexibility
Almost every aspect of a PHP chart can be customized. PHP developers can choose from a variety of chart and graph styles, colors, layouts, interactive elements, and even animation sequences.
With this level of flexibility, PHP developers have the freedom to represent their data in a unique, compelling way.
As a result, web users are more likely to have a stronger impression of a PHP application than if the data was represented as plain text – especially if the data itself is revelatory for the target audience.
Identify Patterns and Trends
PHP charts make it easy for readers to not only comprehend complex data but also gain deeper insight from said data.
Trends and patterns that may have gone unnoticed as plain text are clear as day when displayed as a visual diagram, emphasizing the deeper meaning (and the context) behind the raw data.
By turning raw data into actionable insights, readers – internal and external stakeholders – don’t just understand the data. They know what to do with that data to generate results. When you create interactive charts with animations, this can help draw attention to trends and patterns.
Read more: Beginner’s Guide to Outsource PHP Development.
Key Features of PHP Charts
PHP charts include a wide variety of features to improve their functionality and accessibility. While the type of features available depends on the PHP chart provider, the most common ones are:
Support for Various Types of Charts
Most PHP charts have the ability to present data in a variety of styles and formats. These include column and bar charts, line and area charts, pie and funnel charts, scatter and bubble charts, and financial charts.
Some PHP charts support combination charts, where data is visually represented in more than one chart style but within the same chart. More advanced PHP charts can display 3D charts; however, these charts are more complex to integrate and more resource-intensive on a user’s device.
Extensive Customization Options
Many PHP charts can be customized to suit your unique requirements. These include your choice of:
- Chart style
- Colors and layouts
- Fonts
- Country flags
More advanced customization options include:
- Native anti-aliasing: Produces sharper and cleaner lines and edges
- Alpha transparency: Determines how “see-through” a data point is
- Shadows: Creates the illusion of depth, making a data point appear further away from the background than it really is.
Device and Platform Compatibility
Since PHP charts are compatible with PHP code, they will function with whatever web browsers the PHP project is being developed for.
This level of compatibility should extend to most modern web browsers (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and more), mobile platforms (e.g., iOS and Android), and operating systems (e.g., Windows, MacOSX, and Linux).
Easy Data Integration
Most PHP charts can connect seamlessly to multiple data points. This means they can visualize data from a wide range of sources, including:
- Databases: Legacy, relational, MySQL database, non-relational, object-oriented, multi-model, and cloud databases.
- Application programming interfaces (APIs): Public APIs, Partner APIs, Internal APIs, and Composite APIs.
- Content management systems: Web content, digital assets, documents, enterprise content, and component content management systems.
Do you plan on hiring PHP programmers in the near future? Will your PHP application need to display visual charts? If so, then ensure that your team chooses the right PHP chart, one that can collect data from various data sources. They should also be familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of PHP and how to overcome common PHP development challenges.
Strong Community Support
PHP charts often include free documentation for PHP developers to read. This documentation typically features introductions, how-to guides, answers to frequently asked questions, and troubleshooting solutions.
Some PHP chart developers also have community forums where PHP developers can ask for help and share useful hints and tips. PHP chart developers may also use the community forums to announce updates and provide expert support.
Why Choose Orient Software for PHP Development Services?
At Orient Software, our outsourced PHP developers have over 19 years of experience building PHP web applications. We have provided custom web application development services for over 100 global clients.
One of our most important PHP projects was for Hello Health Group, a Vietnam-based provider of health and wellness platforms and services. When Hello Health Group approached us, their goal was to expand their business to multiple Asian markets, Indonesia being their first target market.
To help Hello Health become established in Indonesia, Orient Software assembled a team of expert ReactJS and PHP developers. Working together with Hello Health Group’s backend developers, we are able to optimize the existing UI/UX design and develop new features for their new minimum viable product (MVP) system.
As a result of this collaborative effort, Hello Health Group was able to launch the MVP version of their health and information service platform successfully.
Contact Orient Software Today
Whether your PHP development service needs are big or small, Orient Software can help. Contact us today and find out how we can transform your web application idea into a reality.
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