With all the recent buzz about ggvis (this, this, and this) it’s often easy to forget all that ggplot2 offers as a graphics package. True, ggplot is a static approach to graphing unlike ggvis but it has fundamentally changed the way we think about plots in R. I recently spent some time thinking about some of the more useful features of ggplot2 to answer the question ‘what is offered by ggplot2 that one can’t do with the base graphics functions?’ First-time users of ggplot2 are often confused by the syntax, yet it is precisely this syntax built on the philosophy of the grammar of graphics that makes ggplot2 so powerful. Adding content layers to mapped objects are central to this idea, which allows linking of map aesthetics through a logical framework. Additionally, several packages have been developed around this philosophy to extend the functionality of ggplot2 in alternative applications (e.g., ggmap, GGally, ggthemes).
I recently gave a presentation to describe some of my favorite features of ggplot2 and other packages building on its core concepts. I describe the use of facets for multi-panel plots, default and custom themes, ggmap for spatial mapping with ggplot2, and GGally for generalized pairs plots. Although this is certainly a subjective and incomplete list, my workflows have become much more efficient (and enjoyable) by using these tools. Below is a link to the presentation. Note that this will not load using internet explorer and you may have to reload if using Chrome to get the complete slide deck. This is my first time hosting a Slidify presentation on RPubs, so please bear with me. The presentation materials are also available at Github.
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What are some of your favorite features of ggplot2??
Cheers,
Marcus
R is my friend 