Charts,Server Side or Client Side?

Question

Client Side Charts or Server Side Charts ?

(I had seen some questions based on this topic but none gives a conclusion.)

I am currently evaluating Client Side charts(javascript charts).
I have came across many articles saying client side charting as good.
The main reasong behind is it saves a server trip. Now switching to client side charts should require some reasons. Some stats.

• My Web application involves high data operations.
• Need client side interaction on charts to a lot extent.

What are exact differences between using client side and server side in terms of performance.
What are the advantages of one over the other ?

Answer 1

Your choice of technology should mostly depend on the CPU vs I/O ratio that is formed when you create your charts:

• Charts generated from little data, such as pie-charts, are a good candidate for client side rendering; just send half a dozen data points and let the client render the chart, instead of rendering and sending a 30KB image on the server.

• Charts generated from a large amount of data points should be rendered on the server; sending two million data points to the client for rendering is going to be both slow and expensive - bandwidth is not free.

In general you should optimize for less bandwidth usage, both to lower the operational cost and to make your service more responsive.