Whether the project calls for interactive visuals created at the command line for immediate consumption, or a more off-line approach where results are expressed as an image that can be viewed at leisure, there is a tool that fits the need.

The degree to which various tools are integrated with IPython varies: R uses Rmagics to enable a mode in which the developer is virtually running an R interpreter, while Plotly prefers using Python as much as possible. Development in this area is rapid, and it seems likely that there will be an even greater degree of interoperability between different tools in the future, whether supported by the tools themselves or by new frameworks designed for that purpose.

To a large extent, the choice of which tool to use should come down to the one that the developer finds the easiest to use. Many good options are free, and the use of IPython to generate data makes it relatively easy to switch from one tool to another without loss of data.

Although seeing is...