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wtf is smart-axis-ticks?

tanykim/smart-axis-ticks — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2015-03-30

HTMLAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5DormantSetup · easy

TL;DR

A small function that automatically picks clean, round axis numbers and tick spacing for charts based on your data's max value.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Picks round tick numbers
      Sets axis upper limit
      Calculates step size
    Tech stack
      HTML
      JavaScript
      D3
    Use cases
      Chart axis labels
      Dashboard polish
      D3 visualizations
    Audience
      PMs and founders
      Designers
      Developers
    Notes
      Core function getSmartTicks
      Takes max value input

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Pass your dataset's max value into getSmartTicks to get a clean axis range for a D3 chart.

REASON 2

Use it in a dashboard to avoid manually tweaking axis ranges so charts look more professional.

REASON 3

Drop it into any charting tool that needs round, readable tick marks instead of raw data bounds.

What's in the stack?

HTMLJavaScriptD3

How it stacks up

tanykim/smart-axis-ticks100/rutgers-pbl-dining-2015a15n/a15n_old
LanguageHTMLHTMLHTML
Last pushed2015-03-302015-12-012016-06-18
MaintenanceDormantDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity1/51/51/5
Audiencedevelopergeneralgeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
No license information is mentioned in the explanation.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to call getSmartTicks with a max value of 87 and use the result to set up a D3 chart axis.
Prompt 2
Help me integrate this smart-axis-ticks function into an existing dashboard chart.
Prompt 3
Explain how getSmartTicks decides the rounding interval and step size for different data ranges.
Prompt 4
Write an example that uses this function to render a bar chart axis from 0 to a clean upper bound.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is smart-axis-ticks?

A small function that automatically picks clean, round axis numbers and tick spacing for charts based on your data's max value.

What language is smart-axis-ticks written in?

Mainly HTML. The stack also includes HTML, JavaScript, D3.

Is smart-axis-ticks actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2015-03-30).

What license does smart-axis-ticks use?

No license information is mentioned in the explanation.

How hard is smart-axis-ticks to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is smart-axis-ticks for?

Mainly developer.

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