CMSC109 (Introduction to Computing)

Fall 2022

Assignment #4

Due on Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Task: Develop a Processing program that enables a user to visualize some data.  Your program should allow the major trends in the data to be easily visible.  Additionally, your program should allow for some form of interaction between the user and the data (some suggestions are given below).

Your program should be able to read in the data from a file, parse the data with Processing, and then use Processing to display the data in a clear manner.  The choice of visualization format should be informed by the story that you want to tell about your particular data. Make sure your visual has a proper title, source, and legend. Review the tutorial on Strings and text to learn about fonts, font sizes, and text alignment.

Don't be afraid to be creative!  Visual enhancements that don't necessarily convey additional information but make the presentation of the data more interesting and aesthetically pleasing are encouraged.

You should select a dataset that lends itself to telling an interesting story through visualization.  You are welcome to find your own data from any source you'd like as long as it contains a reasonable number of datapoints (a rough rule of thumb would be at least 50 or more).  You may want to obtain data from one of the following sites that serve as data clearinghouses: data.gov and datamarket.com.  In addition, we are providing following pointers to datasets that we feel are suitable for completing the project. 

Some datasets (you do not have to use one of these!):
  1. Demographic data: popularity of various baby names in the U.S.
  2. Economic data: U.S. GDP (consult here for more economic time series).
  3. Weather data: for Philadelphia consult the Franklin Institute Page.
  4. Stock market data: For example, Apple Inc. Stock.
  5. A bunch of datasets: https://vincentarelbundock.github.io/Rdatasets/datasets.html
  6. Federal Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics: You can customize the kind of dataset you want

Requirements:

  1. Your sketch must read in data from a data file.
  2. The file must contain real-world data, with at least 50 data points.
  3. Your sketch must display this data, choosing a visualization method that makes the data easy for a human to understand.

What to Hand in: Hand in the entire sketch folder (including the Data folder) in your Dropbox folder. Make sure to include:

  1. Your sketch code (the .pde file)
  2. A gif/jpg/png image of your finished sketch
  3. A write-up with your name, course and assignment number and a paragraph about the sketch, its inspiration, and how you designed and implemented it. Include a brief discussion about your experience working on this assignment.
Hand in a printout of all three at the start of the class on the due date.



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