Most interesting links of April (renewed)
Only two articles this month:
Computerworld: 22 free tools for data visualization and analysis
- great review if different categories of data analysis and visualization tools. The tools I haven't known (i.e. excluding R, Google Charts etc.) and found them especially interesting: Data web apps: Google Refine (data cleansing in a spreadsheet-like UI: clustering, data distribution overview, ...), Google Fusion Tables (data => map etc., beta), Impure (rich & interactive data visualization via a drag-and-drop UI reminiscent of Yahoo Pipes; cons: lacking documentation, steep learning curve, check the teaser video). JS libraries: Exhibit (JavaScript library by MIT for creating interactive visualizations e.g. for articles - incl. maps, timeplots, calendars etc., supporting filtering, sorting, searching), InfoVis Toolit (JS lib for interactive data visualizations; pros: beautiful, cons: choice of visualization types is somewhat limited), Protovis (by Stanford University's Visualization Group; one of the more popular JS libraries for turning data into visuals, great docs, robust); OpenLayers ( example; customize & display a map, e.g. Open Street Map of Google), Polymaps (interactive maps with overlays) GIS: OpenHeatMap (webapp, "astonishingly easy to create a color-coded map from many types of location data") Other: Timelines with TimeFlow (interesting desktop /java/ app x alpha) or SIMILE Timeline widget (JS); Word clouds: IBM Word-Cloud Generator (free, desktop /java/); Gephi (graph/network visualization & exploration; desktop)
The Evolution of Test Driven Developers
- an entertaining and enlightening article with valuable links to resources that can help you get to the next evolutionary step, one of its benefits is that it helps to understand the true value of the different types of tests (some -> TDD -> Behaviour Driven Development ('what' rather than 'how') -> Acceptance Test Driven Development) and the shift from a technical to a business perspective along the line
Computerworld: 22 free tools for data visualization and analysis
- great review if different categories of data analysis and visualization tools. The tools I haven't known (i.e. excluding R, Google Charts etc.) and found them especially interesting: Data web apps: Google Refine (data cleansing in a spreadsheet-like UI: clustering, data distribution overview, ...), Google Fusion Tables (data => map etc., beta), Impure (rich & interactive data visualization via a drag-and-drop UI reminiscent of Yahoo Pipes; cons: lacking documentation, steep learning curve, check the teaser video). JS libraries: Exhibit (JavaScript library by MIT for creating interactive visualizations e.g. for articles - incl. maps, timeplots, calendars etc., supporting filtering, sorting, searching), InfoVis Toolit (JS lib for interactive data visualizations; pros: beautiful, cons: choice of visualization types is somewhat limited), Protovis (by Stanford University's Visualization Group; one of the more popular JS libraries for turning data into visuals, great docs, robust); OpenLayers ( example; customize & display a map, e.g. Open Street Map of Google), Polymaps (interactive maps with overlays) GIS: OpenHeatMap (webapp, "astonishingly easy to create a color-coded map from many types of location data") Other: Timelines with TimeFlow (interesting desktop /java/ app x alpha) or SIMILE Timeline widget (JS); Word clouds: IBM Word-Cloud Generator (free, desktop /java/); Gephi (graph/network visualization & exploration; desktop)
The Evolution of Test Driven Developers
- an entertaining and enlightening article with valuable links to resources that can help you get to the next evolutionary step, one of its benefits is that it helps to understand the true value of the different types of tests (some -> TDD -> Behaviour Driven Development ('what' rather than 'how') -> Acceptance Test Driven Development) and the shift from a technical to a business perspective along the line