Should I use a pie chart?

I wasn&#x27;t aware they were controversial. I had to google to find some arguments against pie charts<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.data-to-viz.com&#x2F;caveat&#x2F;pie.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.data-to-viz.com&#x2F;caveat&#x2F;pie.html</a>

Reminds me of this site:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;shouldiuseacarousel.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;shouldiuseacarousel.com&#x2F;</a>

PacMan pie charts are acceptable<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;images.app.goo.gl&#x2F;JoYtDHfGaCXsTpGK7" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;images.app.goo.gl&#x2F;JoYtDHfGaCXsTpGK7</a>

Is this reddit now? A post with a link to a website with a picture. Great stuff.

I went looking for the famous Edward Tufte quote about pie charts, Tufte being one of the elder statesmen of data visualization, and found it at this old HN thread:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=2991062">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=2991062</a><p><pre><code> A table is nearly always better than a dumb pie chart; the only worse design than a pie chart is several of them, for then the viewer is asked to compare quantities located in spatial disarray both within and between charts [...] Given their low density and failure to order numbers along a visual dimension, pie charts should never be used.</code></pre>

It kind of annoys me that this is a regular polygon and not a circle&#x2F;pie<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Regular_polygon" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Regular_polygon</a>

In HCI, I think the general (and researched) consensus about pie charts is that they are fine and probably perform better than alternatives when they have a few (as in probably 4 or less) slices, but then go to total crap for anything much more. I think one of the best essays on this is from Stephen Few, but there&#x27;s a fair amount of research on the Wikipedia page too.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.perceptualedge.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;08-21-07.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.perceptualedge.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;08-21-07.pdf</a>

Should you pay ~$10 per year for a domain to send one single message through? (and achieve a frontpage mention on HN) - yeah, I&#x27;d say it was worth it.

Being against pie charts is a great example of mid-wit (angry, ranting about nothing). The anti pie chart crowd recognises that other plots can achieve everything the pie chard does, and more. But the fail in this understanding is the assumption of &quot;more is more&quot;. Sometimes you <i>don&#x27;t</i> want readers getting down into the details. Sometimes you <i>don&#x27;t</i> want readers comparing the relative sizes of pie segments (which the human eye tends to do on bar charts). Sometimes pie charts just suit the overall layout of the document they&#x27;re part of.<p>tl;dr be mindful there&#x27;s often a better plot to use than a pie chart, but if you want to use a pie chart, go for it.

I like 2 slice pie charts for data where those 2 pieces encompass the whole. Bar charts are superior in every other way (3+ segments, easier to compare, etc.), but are not as good at conveying you&#x27;re looking at the total.

Ironically - an effective use of a pie chart.

why does this chart look like it&#x27;s on ketamine?<p>they have a site dedicated to pie charts but couldn&#x27;t afford a real circle?

If I zoom in closely, I think I see a yes. Seriously, some data looks great in a pie chart

Pie charts are OK if there are only a few slices(2-4 is acceptable)