I recently needed a chart in one of the asp .net website I've been working on. In the past I've never been able to find a satisfactory solution that was free or inexpensive. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0, that Microsoft included new chart controls for ASP .net and for Windows forms. I figured that since they we're free and already included in C#, I might as well try them.
At first glance they appear to be pretty decent. The control includes most of the basic features that you would expect: multiple chart types (bar, line, pie), multiple series, 3D capabilities, legends. It also has a number of other features that we're well beyond what I was expecting for a free solution: advanced statistical calculations, and over 12 different categories of chart types.
My needs for the project I'm working on are very simple, so after a few minutes of looking at some examples (4 Guys From Rolla was a great starting point), I was up and running. Within a few minutes I had a basic line charts working, and shortly after that I had the legend, labels, and multiple series all working as well.
So far from what I've seen, these chart controls seem to work pretty well, even if someone had some intensive charting needs, these free chart control might still fit the bill. Definitely worth a look before buying anything to fill your charting needs.
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