TikZ plot too verbose

Here's a LaTeX version.

\documentclass[tikz,border=3.14mm]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \draw[help lines, ystep=.5] (-.2,-10) grid (12.5,15);
  \draw[->] (0, -10) to (0, 15) node[above] {$y$};
  \draw[->] (0, 0) to (12.5, 0) node[right] {$x$};
  \foreach \X in {0,...,12}
  {\ifnum\X>0
  \node at (\X,-0.5) {$\X$};
  \fi
  \draw (\X,-10+\X) circle (2pt); }
  \foreach \Y in {-20,-18,...,10}
  {\node at (-0.5,\Y/2) {$\Y$};}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Amazingly the following does run through with pdftex

\input tikz
\tikzpicture
\draw[help lines, ystep=.5] (-.2,-10) grid (12.5,15);
  \draw[->] (0, -10) to (0, 15) node[above] {$y$};
  \draw[->] (0, 0) to (12.5, 0) node[right] {$x$};
  \foreach \X in {0,...,12}
  {\ifnum\X>0
  \node at (\X,-0.5) {$\X$};
  \fi
  \draw (\X,-10+\X) circle (2pt); }
  \foreach \Y in {-20,-18,...,10}
  {\node at (-0.5,\Y/2) {$\Y$};}
\endtikzpicture
\bye

So after spending a night reading the manual while in a trial-error-loop, after many solemn utterances to invoke supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on something, all of which now regretted, I finally – victoriously – formed the following:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{datavisualization, datavisualization.formats.functions}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \datavisualization[
    school book axes
    , x axis={unit length=5mm}
    , y axis={
      unit length=5mm
      , ticks={step=2}
      , grid
      , scaling = min at 0cm and max at 5cm
    }
    , visualize as line
  ]
  data[format=function] {
    var x : interval [0:12];
    func y = (\value x - 10) * 2;
  };
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Boom! Pow! Shazam! Holy function data format, Batman! This is pretty darn nice, it has to be said.

Only trouble I found, is that it does not work with the plain format, forcing the user to descend to a lower plane of enlightenment.