The Highcharts product was developed by Highsoft Solutions AS, a Norwegian company in the year 2009. Torstein Honsi was the founder and creator of Highcharts.
Following figure briefly explains the time line of Highcharts history.
So, Highcharts can be merged under the Prototype, jQuery JavaScript or MooTools. By default Highcharts uses the jQuery framework, so users only require jQuery library to create Highcharts.
Highcharts doesn’t require any client-side plugins like Java or Flash, because it is completely based on native browser technology and users need not install anything on the server further. The only thing that developers need to run Highcharts is highcharts.js core.
Any server that supports HTML can be used for running Highcharts. Users can even run locally from a file system using different browsers.
Following are the list of browsers which support Highcharts:
Browser version | Performance | Technology used |
---|---|---|
Internet Explorer 6 | VML | Slow |
Internet Explorer 7 | VML | Slow |
Internet Explorer 8 | Ok | VML |
Interne Explorer 9 | Excellent | SVG |
Chrome | Excellent | SVG |
Firefox | Excellent | SVG |
Opera | Excellent | SVG |
Safari | Excellent | SVG |
iOS Safari | Ok | SVG |
Andriod 3+ | Ok | SVG |
Android 2.x | Slow | Canvas |
Features | Description |
---|---|
Free to use | Higcharts are free to use for non-commercial purpose and can be used for personal websites without any upfront charge. |
Simple Configurations | Various configurations of charts can be defined using json. |
Compatibility | Works on all major mobile platforms and browsers. |
Multitouch Support | Supports all the platforms like android, iOS and all other smart phones. |
Lightweight | Uses the light weight highcharts.js library whose size is around 35Kb. |
Tooltips Configuration | Tooltip can control programmatically by a call back or in-built formatter provided by Highcharts. |
DateTime suport | Date and time can be handled. |
Multiple axes | Multiple axes are supported on a chart. |
Charts can be printed using web pages. | |
Export | By using export, user can download the charts in PNG/JPG/SVG/PDF formats. |
zooming | Charts can be zoomed and viewed. |
Rotating Text | Text can be rotated in different directions |
External Data | By using a call back function, one can get control over the data. |