Introduction
In this chapter, we will explore the most essential question in any data visualization project: how data can be represented in both programming constructs, and its visual metaphor. Before we start on this topic, some discussion on data visualization is necessary. In order to understand what data visualization is, first we will need to understand the difference between data and information.
Data consists of raw facts. The word raw indicates that the facts have not yet been processed to reveal their meaning...Information is the result of processing raw data to reveal its meaning.
-Rob P., S. Morris, and Coronel C. 2009
This is how data and information are traditionally defined in the digital information world. However, data visualization provides a much richer interpretation of this definition since information is no longer the mere result of processed raw facts but rather a visual metaphor of the facts. As stated by Manuel Lima, in his Information Visualization...
