D3.Js vs. JavaScript InfoVis Toolkit vs. Polymer vs. Refraction Comparison Chart

D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS. D3’s emphasis on web standards gives you the full capabilities of modern browsers without tying yourself to a proprietary framework, combining powerful visualization components and a data-driven approach to DOM manipulation. D3 allows you to bind arbitrary data to a Document Object Model (DOM), and then apply data-driven transformations to the document. For example, you can use D3 to generate an HTML table from an array of numbers. Or, use the same data to create an interactive SVG bar chart with smooth transitions and interaction. D3 is not a monolithic framework that seeks to provide every conceivable feature. Instead, D3 solves the crux of the problem: efficient manipulation of documents based on data. This avoids proprietary representation and affords extraordinary flexibility, exposing the full capabilities of web standards such as HTML, SVG, and CSS.

The Polymer library provides a set of features for creating custom elements. These features are designed to make it easier and faster to make custom elements that work like standard DOM elements. Similar to standard DOM elements, Polymer elements can be instantiated using a constructor or document creation element, configured using attributes or properties, populated with internal DOM inside each instance, responsive to property and attribute changes, styled with internal defaults or externally, and responsive to methods that manipulate its internal state. Registering an element associates a class with a custom element name. The element provides callbacks to manage its lifecycle. Polymer also lets you declare properties, to integrate your element's property API with the Polymer data system. Shadow DOM provides a local, encapsulated DOM tree for your element. Polymer can automatically create and populate a shadow tree for your element from a DOM template.