I have an ongoing love affair with Drupal and Javascript. Lately I have been using Drupal as an environment to prototype data visualizations using the d3.js library and some of its related extension libraries (crossfilter.js, topojson.js, and dc.js to be specific). Although much of the action here is on the front end, the Drupal environment allows me to conveniently serve data and script where and how I need it during development. Then, as the designs become more stable, I can leverage the full power of Drupal (menus, permissions and roles, other api niceties) to make them available to a wider audience. What is more, Drupal's flexibility makes it easy for me to localize my activities into a single module, and thus remain relatively unobtrusive to the rest of the site.

In this presentation I will describe my environment and provide examples and discussion of my code in the context of interactive dashboards created at the University of Arizona. Much of this presentation will focus on how data can be served and used, and on some of the capabilities of the visualization libraries themselves. These are open-source, very flexible, and, although there is a bit of a learning curve, well within reach of Drupal developers. Finally, I will look forward to how Drupal 8's core web services modules will make it even easier for me to do what I want to do.

The discussion will be oriented towards intermediate to advanced front-end developers and UI experience designers, but I will strive to make it accessible to all members of the community who are adventurous and interested in the possibilities of the technologies.