Using ggplot with Time Series Data in R Programming

Time series data in R programming is treated as a special data object. That can create some complications when you’re trying to print out a time series object.

First and foremost you can use the plot function that’s built into our to plot your time series object. But the plot function does have some limitations in terms of the appearance of the graph and maybe combinations with data that you may have intended with this time series object.

The natural choice would be to turn to the ggplot2 library. The ggplot2 library, as I explained in my post on data visualization usually provides a number of options in its attributes to customize visualizations and make adjustments. Moreover, there is an ecosystem of libraries that have been built around the ggplot2 library.

But the ggplot() function does require the data object to be a data frame. This means that you must take your time series data and convert it into a data frame object before applying the features and functions of the ggplot2 library. This can seem a little complicated but there are some tips that can keep the steps easy.

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