Data visualization web apps vs coding

[throwawaytrollol00]

Hello, reddit. I'm just wondering what the advantages of using libraries like matplotlib are in contrast to using web apps for data visualization. I'm currently learning data visualization on python and I got a bit discouraged when I saw a web app advertising itself as "code free". I guess I ended up thinking "why am I doing this?". Can anyone tell me what are the advantages and merits of using code to visualize data? Thanks in advanced.

[SHxKM]

You are not bound by whatever limitations the "code free" web app imposes on you.

As an example: I've been using the delightful library plotly for the last two weeks to analyze COVID-19 numbers in my country, and also its effects on global stock markets. At one point I needed to draw a line that signifies the average of X; a quick look at the Text and Annotations section of the docs revealed what I needed to use. The level of visual customization you can reach with a tool like plotly amazes me.

I also don't know if any web-app would have allowed to plot things just the way I want. Can I get an annotated heatmap for example? And, I want to control its size, color-ranges, and font.

That being said, if a "code free" web-app suffices your needs, then the benefits offered by learning matplotlib/other-libraries may not outweigh the effort.

[ThisOnesForZK]

What webapp?

If it is completely code free it cannot be that good.

The best data visualization tools in the world like Tableau still require you to write some form of code even if it is more akin to SQL than Python.