Book Network

Simulating a Network of Related Books

Saved as booknest-network.js, this function copies the data (simulations mutate it), sizes nodes by units sold, shortens links with more shared customers (the sample links), runs 300 ticks and draws once:

bookNetwork(): books linked by shared customers, 300 ticks (sample data)HTML
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3@7.9.0/dist/d3.min.js"></script>
<script src="booknest-sales.js"></script><script src="booknest-prep.js"></script>
<svg width="720" height="270" font-family="Arial" font-size="11" text-anchor="middle"></svg>
<script>
function bookNetwork(svg, { books, links }) {
  const nodes = books.map(b => ({ ...b })), edges = links.map(l => ({ ...l }));
  const r = d3.scaleSqrt([0, d3.max(nodes, n => n.units)], [0, 24]);
  const simulation = d3.forceSimulation(nodes)
    .force('link', d3.forceLink(edges).id(n => n.id).distance(l => 180 - 2 * l.value))
    .force('charge', d3.forceManyBody().strength(-500))
    .force('collide', d3.forceCollide(n => r(n.units) + 24))    // room for labels
    .force('center', d3.forceCenter(+svg.attr('width') / 2, +svg.attr('height') / 2))
    .force('y', d3.forceY(+svg.attr('height') / 2).strength(0.1))   // flatten to fit
    .stop().tick(300);                                   // settle offline
  const line = svg.append('g').attr('stroke', '#b0bec5').selectAll('line').data(edges)
    .join('line').attr('stroke-width', l => l.value / 6);
  const node = svg.append('g').selectAll('g').data(nodes).join('g');
  node.append('circle').attr('r', n => r(n.units)).attr('fill', n => n.color);
  node.append('text').attr('y', n => r(n.units) + 12).text(n => n.title);
  const draw = () => {
    line.attr('x1', l => l.source.x).attr('y1', l => l.source.y)
      .attr('x2', l => l.target.x).attr('y2', l => l.target.y);
    node.attr('transform', n => `translate(${n.x},${n.y})`);
  };
  draw(); simulation.on('tick', draw);                   // redraws after restart()
  return { simulation, node };
}
bookNetwork(d3.select('svg'), prepareSales(SALES));
</script>
Browser output of Listing 6.41
Browser output of 41

The Clockmaker's Paradox and The Quiet Harbor (38 shared customers) share the thickest link. Collision radii with room for labels and a weak forceY fit the layout to a wide page.

A network of books bought together, sized by units and settled offline with 300 ticksHTMLLive
<!doctype html>
<style>
  body { margin: 0; padding: 8px; background: #fafaf7; font: 11px system-ui, sans-serif; color: #263238; }
  svg { max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; background: #fff; }
</style>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3@7.9.0/dist/d3.min.js"></script>
<svg width="600" height="270" font-size="11" text-anchor="middle"></svg>
<p>Link width and length follow the number of shared customers.</p>
<script>
  // BookNest sample data, invented for these examples (not real sales)
  const SALES = (() => {
    const books = [
      { id: 1, key: 'harbor', title: 'The Quiet Harbor', author: 'Elena Marsh', genre: 'Fiction', color: '#1f5f8b', price: 18.99, rating: 4.6 },
      { id: 2, key: 'deepweb', title: 'Patterns of the Deep Web', author: 'Ravi Menon', genre: 'Technology', color: '#5b3f99', price: 39.5, rating: 4.3 },
      { id: 3, key: 'saffron', title: 'Salt and Saffron', author: 'Leila Haddad', genre: 'Cooking', color: '#e09a10', price: 24, rating: 4.8 },
      { id: 4, key: 'summit', title: 'Small Steps to Big Summits', author: 'Tom Okafor', genre: 'Self-Help', color: '#3f7d3a', price: 14.99, rating: 4.1 },
      { id: 5, key: 'clock', title: "The Clockmaker's Paradox", author: 'Iris Vale', genre: 'Science Fiction', color: '#b5452f', price: 16.2, rating: 4.5 },
      { id: 6, key: 'glass', title: 'Gardens in Glass', author: 'June Park', genre: 'Gardening', color: '#2a9d8f', price: 22.5, rating: 4.4 },
    ];
    const units = {        // units sold per month, January 2025 to August 2026
      1: [40, 47, 46, 47, 57, 51, 46, 54, 60, 60, 71, 111, 52, 42, 49, 56, 59, 48, 53, 51],
      2: [40, 37, 35, 41, 48, 43, 40, 42, 50, 53, 53, 84, 42, 35, 38, 41, 45, 41, 46, 46],
      3: [46, 45, 41, 46, 53, 49, 46, 45, 60, 51, 63, 100, 48, 48, 49, 48, 53, 49, 48, 52],
      4: [100, 80, 72, 70, 66, 66],                    // released March 2026
      5: [48, 47, 54, 52, 65, 55, 57, 58, 64, 66, 75, 124, 58, 49, 59, 56, 63, 57, 54, 57],
      6: [31, 30, 28, 35, 31, 32, 29, 30, 41, 36, 45, 64, 31, 30, 30, 38, 40, 38, 36, 38],
    };
    const months = d3.utcMonths(new Date('2025-01-01'), new Date('2026-09-01')).map(d3.utcFormat('%Y-%m'));
    const sales = books.flatMap(b => units[b.id].map((n, i) =>
      ({ month: months[i + months.length - units[b.id].length], book: b.id, units: n })));
    const ratings = [[4, 8, 20, 87, 293], [6, 10, 22, 95, 147], [2, 3, 8, 45, 342], [2, 3, 8, 24, 28],
      [4, 8, 20, 90, 228], [4, 7, 20, 82, 147]].map((counts, i) => ({ book: i + 1, counts }));  // 1 to 5 stars
    const regions = [{ id: '826', name: 'United Kingdom', units: 1480 }, { id: '276', name: 'Germany', units: 1120 },
      { id: '250', name: 'France', units: 760 }, { id: '372', name: 'Ireland', units: 540 },
      { id: '528', name: 'Netherlands', units: 410 }, { id: '724', name: 'Spain', units: 320 }];
    const links = [[5, 1, 38], [1, 3, 24], [2, 5, 18], [3, 6, 21], [4, 1, 12], [2, 6, 9], [4, 3, 15], [5, 6, 14]]
      .map(([source, target, value]) => ({ source, target, value }));   // customers who bought both
    return { books, sales, ratings, regions, links };
  })();
  // prepareSales(raw): parsed dates, sales linked to book objects, revenue and totals
  function prepareSales(raw) {
    const parse = d3.utcParse('%Y-%m'), books = raw.books.map(b => ({ ...b }));
    const byId = d3.index(books, b => b.id);
    const sales = raw.sales.map(s => ({ date: parse(s.month), book: byId.get(s.book),
      units: s.units, revenue: s.units * byId.get(s.book).price }));
    for (const [book, rows] of d3.group(sales, s => s.book)) {
      book.units = d3.sum(rows, s => s.units);
      book.revenue = d3.sum(rows, s => s.revenue);
    }
    const months = d3.rollups(sales, v => ({ units: d3.sum(v, s => s.units),
      revenue: d3.sum(v, s => s.revenue) }), s => +s.date).map(([t, v]) => ({ date: new Date(t), ...v }))
      .sort((a, b) => a.date - b.date);
    const ratings = raw.ratings.map(r => ({ ...r, book: byId.get(r.book) }));
    return { ...raw, books, sales, months, ratings };
  }

  function bookNetwork(svg, { books, links }) {
    const nodes = books.map(b => ({ ...b })), edges = links.map(l => ({ ...l }));   // simulations mutate
    const r = d3.scaleSqrt([0, d3.max(nodes, n => n.units)], [0, 24]);
    const W = +svg.attr('width'), H = +svg.attr('height');
    const simulation = d3.forceSimulation(nodes)
      .force('link', d3.forceLink(edges).id(n => n.id).distance(l => 180 - 2 * l.value))  // ids → node objects
      .force('charge', d3.forceManyBody().strength(-500))
      .force('collide', d3.forceCollide(n => r(n.units) + 24))       // room for labels
      .force('center', d3.forceCenter(W / 2, H / 2))
      .force('y', d3.forceY(H / 2).strength(0.1))                    // flatten to fit a wide page
      .stop().tick(300);                                             // settle offline, draw once
    const line = svg.append('g').attr('stroke', '#b0bec5').selectAll('line').data(edges)
      .join('line').attr('stroke-width', l => l.value / 6);
    const label = svg.append('g').attr('fill', '#78909c').selectAll('text').data(edges).join('text').text(l => l.value);
    const node = svg.append('g').selectAll('g').data(nodes).join('g');
    node.append('circle').attr('r', n => r(n.units)).attr('fill', n => n.color);
    node.append('text').attr('y', n => r(n.units) + 12).text(n => n.title);
    const draw = () => {
      line.attr('x1', l => l.source.x).attr('y1', l => l.source.y).attr('x2', l => l.target.x).attr('y2', l => l.target.y);
      label.attr('x', l => (l.source.x + l.target.x) / 2).attr('y', l => (l.source.y + l.target.y) / 2 - 3);
      node.attr('transform', n => `translate(${n.x},${n.y})`);
    };
    draw();
    simulation.on('tick', draw);                                      // redraws after a restart()
    return { simulation, node };
  }
  bookNetwork(d3.select('svg'), prepareSales(SALES));
</script>