JFreeChart – Overview

JFreeChart – Overview

A chart is a graphical representation of information. There are various tools available, which can be used to create different types of charts.

This tutorial helps you to understand what exactly the JfreeChart is, why is it required and the various ways to create different types of charts within a Java based application or independently.

What is JFreeChart?

JfreeChart is an open source library developed in Java, which can be used within Java based applications to create a wide range of charts. By using JFreeChart, we can create all the major type of 2D and 3D charts such as pie chart, bar chart, line chart, XY chart and 3D charts.

Why JFreeChart?

  • It is open source and 100% free, which permits usage in the commercial applications without any cost.
  • It comes with well documented APIs, which makes it quite easy to understand.
  • It supports a wide range of chart types such as Pie Chart, Line Chart, Bar Chart, Area Chart and 3D charts.
  • JFreeChart is easy to extend and can be used in both, the client-side, as well as the server-side applications.
  • It supports multiple output formats like PNG, JPEG, PDF, SVG etc.
  • It allows extensive customizations of charts.

Where do we use JFree Chart?

Consider a situation where you are developing an application and you need to show the data in the form of charts, where the data itself is populated dynamically. In such case, you can use JFreeChart to display the data in the form of charts using simple programming.


The JFreeChart project was founded fourteen years ago, in February 2000, by David Gilbert. Today, JFreeChart is the most widely used charting library among Java developers.

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