The Language of Graphics
Leland Wilkinson, Daniel J. Rope, Daniel B. Carr, Matthew A. Rubin · Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics · 2000
We describe a system, called the Graphics Production Library (GPL), that implements a language for quantitative graphics. The structure of this system differs from existing statistical graphics, visualization, and mapping systems. Instead of treating a graphics display as a viewer for underlying data, GPL treats data as an accessory to viewing a graph. GPL is based on the mathematical definition of the graph of a function and uses that definition to organize data linked to the graph.