What is Matplotlib?

Matplotlib is a low level graph plotting library in python that serves as a visualization utility.

Matplotlib was created by John D. Hunter.

Matplotlib is open source and we can use it freely.

Matplotlib is mostly written in python, a few segments are written in C, Objective-C and
Javascript for Platform compatibility.

Installation of Matplotlib
If you have Python and PIP already installed on a system, then installation of Matplotlib is very
easy.

Install it using this command:

C:\Users\Your Name>pip install matplotlib

If this command fails, then use a python distribution that already has Matplotlib installed, like
Anaconda, Spyder etc.

Import Matplotlib

Once Matplotlib is installed, import it in your applications by adding

the import module statement:

import matplotlib

Now Matplotlib is imported and ready to use:

Checking Matplotlib Version

The version string is stored under __version__ attribute.

import matplotlib

print(matplotlib.__version__)
Pyplot
Most of the Matplotlib utilities lies under the pyplot submodule, and are usually imported under
the plt alias:

import [Link] as plt

Example

Draw a line in a diagram from position (0,0) to position (6,250):

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

xpoints = [Link]([0, 6])

ypoints = [Link]([0, 250])

[Link](xpoints, ypoints)
[Link]()

Plotting Without Line

To plot only the markers, you can use shortcut string notation parameter 'o', which means 'rings'.

Example

Draw two points in the diagram, one at position (1, 3) and one in position (8, 10):

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

xpoints = [Link]([1, 8])

ypoints = [Link]([3, 10])

[Link](xpoints, ypoints, 'o')

[Link]()

Markers
You can use the keyword argument marker to emphasize each point with a specified marker:

Example

Mark each point with a circle:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

ypoints = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](ypoints, marker = 'o')

[Link]()

You can choose any of these markers:

Marker
'o' Circle
'*' Star
'.' Point
',' Pixel
'x' X
'X' X (filled)
'+' Plus
'P' Plus (filled)
's' Square
'D' Diamond
'd' Diamond (thin)
'p' Pentagon
'H' Hexagon
'h' Hexagon
'v' Triangle Down
'^' Triangle Up
'<' Triangle Left
'>' Triangle Right
'1' Tri Down
'2' Tri Up
'3' Tri Left
'4' Tri Right
'|' Vline
'_' Hline

Line Reference Color Reference

 Color Syntax
'r' Red
Line Syntax 'g' Green
'-' Solid line 'b' Blue
':' Dotted line
'c' Cyan
'--' Dashed line
'm' Magenta
'-.' Dashed/dotted line
'y' Yellow
'k' Black
'w' White

Marker Size and Color

You can use the keyword argument markeredgecolor or the shorter mec to set the color of
the edge of the markers:

Example

Set the EDGE color to red:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np
ypoints = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])
[Link](ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mec
= 'r',mfc =”r”)
[Link]()

You can also use Hexadecimal color values:

Example
Mark each point with a beautiful green color:

...
[Link](ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mec = '#4CAF50', mfc = '#4CAF50')
...
Example
Mark each point with the color named "hotpink":
...
[Link](ypoints, marker = 'o', ms = 20, mec = 'hotpink', mfc = 'hotpink')
...
Create Title Labels for a Plot
With Pyplot, you can use the xlabel() and ylabel() functions to set a label for the x- and y-axis.

With Pyplot, you can use the title() function to set a title for the plot.

You can use the fontdict parameter in xlabel(), ylabel(), and title() to set font properties for the
title and labels.

Example

Set font properties for the title and labels:

import numpy as np
import [Link] as plt

x = [Link]([80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125])
y = [Link]([240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320, 330])

font1 = {'family':'serif','color':'blue','size':20}
font2 = {'family':'serif','color':'darkred','size':15}

[Link]("Sports Watch Data", fontdict = font1)

[Link]("Average Pulse", fontdict = font2)
[Link]("Calorie Burnage", fontdict = font2)

[Link](x, y)
[Link]()
Display Multiple Plots

With the subplot() function you can draw multiple plots in one figure:

Example

Draw 2 plots:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

#plot 1:
x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](1, 2, 1)
[Link](x,y)

#plot 2:
x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([10, 20, 30, 40])

[Link](1, 2, 2)
[Link](x,y)

[Link]()
Example

Draw 6 plots:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](2, 3, 1)
[Link](x,y)
[Link]("SALES")

x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([10, 20, 30, 40])

[Link](2, 3, 2)
[Link](x,y)
[Link]("INCOME")

x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](2, 3, 3)
[Link](x,y)

x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([10, 20, 30, 40])

[Link](2, 3, 4)
[Link](x,y)

x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](2, 3, 5)
[Link](x,y)

x = [Link]([0, 1, 2, 3])
y = [Link]([10, 20, 30, 40])

[Link](2, 3, 6)
[Link](x,y)
[Link]("MY SHOP")
[Link]()
Creating Scatter Plots
With Pyplot, you can use the scatter() function to draw a scatter plot.

The scatter() function plots one dot for each observation. It needs two arrays of the same length,
one for the values of the x-axis, and one for values on the y-axis:

Example

A simple scatter plot:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link]([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = [Link]([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])

[Link](x, y)
[Link]()

The observation in the example above is the result of 13 cars

passing by.

The X-axis shows how old the car is.

The Y-axis shows the speed of the car when it passes.

Are there any relationships between the observations?

It seems that the newer the car, the faster it drives, but that could be a coincidence, after all we
only registered 13 cars.

Compare Plots

In the example above, there seems to be a relationship between speed and age, but what if we
plot the observations from another day as well? Will the scatter plot tell us something else?
Example

Draw two plots on the same figure:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

#day one, the age and speed of 13 cars:

x = [Link]([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = [Link]([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
[Link]([Link](x, y, color = 'hotpink'))

#day two, the age and speed of 15 cars:

x = [Link]([2,2,8,1,15,8,12,9,7,3,11,4,7,14,12])
y = [Link]([100,105,84,105,90,99,90,95,94,100,79,112,91,80,85])
[Link](x, y)

[Link]()

Note: The two plots are plotted with two different colors, by default blue and orange,

By comparing the two plots, I think it is safe to say that they both gives us the same conclusion:
the newer the car, the faster it drives.

Color Each Dot

You can even set a specific color for each dot by using an array of colors as value for
the c argument:

Note: You cannot use the color argument for this, only the c argument.

Example

Set your own color of the markers:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link]([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = [Link]([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
colors =
[Link](["red","green","blue","yellow","pink","black","orange
","purple","beige","brown","gray","cyan","magenta"])

[Link](x, y, c=colors)
ColorMap

The Matplotlib module has a number of available colormaps.

A colormap is like a list of colors, where each color has a value that ranges from 0 to 100.

Here is an example of a colormap:

This colormap is called 'viridis' and as you can see it ranges from 0, which is a
purple color, up to 100, which is a yellow color.

How to Use the ColorMap

You can specify the colormap with the keyword argument cmap with the value of
the colormap, in this case 'viridis' which is one of the built-in colormaps available in Matplotlib.

In addition you have to create an array with values (from 0 to 100), one value for each point in
the scatter plot:

You can include the colormap in the drawing by including the [Link]() statement:

Example

Include the actual colormap:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link]([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = [Link]([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
colors =
[Link]([0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100])
[Link](x, y, c=colors, cmap='viridis')
[Link]()
[Link]()
Sizes and Alpha

You can adjust the transparency of the dots with the alpha argument.

Just like colors, make sure the array for sizes has the same length as the arrays for the x- and y-
axis:

Example

Set your own size for the markers:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link]([5,7,8,7,2,17,2,9,4,11,12,9,6])
y = [Link]([99,86,87,88,111,86,103,87,94,78,77,85,86])
sizes = [Link]([20,50,100,200,500,1000,60,90,10,300,600,800,75])
[Link](x, y, s=sizes, alpha=0.5)
[Link]()
Combine Color Size and Alpha

You can combine a colormap with different sizes of the dots. This is best visualized if the dots
are transparent:

Example

Create random arrays with 100 values for x-points, y-points, colors and sizes:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link](100, size=(100))
y = [Link](100, size=(100))
colors = [Link](100, size=(100))
sizes = 10 * [Link](100, size=(100))

[Link](x, y, c=colors, s=sizes, alpha=0.5, cmap='nipy_spectral')

[Link]()
[Link]()
Creating Bars

With Pyplot, you can use the bar() function to draw bar graphs:

Example

Draw 4 bars:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link](["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](x,y)
[Link]()
Result:

The bar() function takes arguments that describes the layout of the bars.

The categories and their values represented by the first and second argument as arrays.

Example
x = ["APPLES", "BANANAS"]
y = [400, 350]
[Link](x, y)
Horizontal Bars

If you want the bars to be displayed horizontally instead of vertically, use the barh() function:
Example

Draw 4 horizontal bars:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link](["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](x, y)
[Link]()
Bar Color

The bar() and barh() take the keyword argument color to set the color of the bars:

Bar Width

The bar() takes the keyword argument width to set the width of the bars:

The default width value is 0.8

Note: For horizontal bars, use height instead of width.

Bar Height

The barh() takes the keyword argument height to set the height of the bars

Example

Draw 4 red bars:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np

x = [Link](["A", "B", "C", "D"])

y = [Link]([3, 8, 1, 10])

[Link](x, y, color = "red", width = 0.1)

[Link]()
Matplotlib Histograms
Histogram

A histogram is a graph showing frequency distributions.

It is a graph showing the number of observations within each given interval.

Example: Say you ask for the height of 250 people, you might end up with a histogram like this:

You can read from the histogram that there are approximately:

2 people from 140 to 145cm

5 people from 145 to 150cm
15 people from 151 to 156cm
31 people from 157 to 162cm
46 people from 163 to 168cm
53 people from 168 to 173cm
45 people from 173 to 178cm
28 people from 179 to 184cm
21 people from 185 to 190cm
4 people from 190 to 195cm

Create Histogram

In Matplotlib, we use the hist() function to create histograms.

The hist() function will use an array of numbers to create a histogram, the array is sent into the
function as an argument.

For simplicity we use NumPy to randomly generate an array with 250 values, where the values
will concentrate around 170, and the standard deviation is 10.

Example

A Normal Data Distribution by NumPy:

import numpy as np

x = [Link](170, 10, 250)

print(x)
[Link](x)
[Link]()
Result:

This will generate a random result, and could look like this:

[167.62255766 175.32495609 152.84661337 165.50264047 163.17457988

162.29867872 172.83638413 168.67303667 164.57361342 180.81120541
170.57782187 167.53075749 176.15356275 176.95378312 158.4125473
187.8842668 159.03730075 166.69284332 160.73882029 152.22378865
164.01255164 163.95288674 176.58146832 173.19849526 169.40206527
166.88861903 149.90348576 148.39039643 177.90349066 166.72462233
177.44776004 170.93335636 173.26312881 174.76534435 162.28791953
166.77301551 160.53785202 170.67972019 159.11594186 165.36992993
178.38979253 171.52158489 173.32636678 159.63894401 151.95735707
175.71274153 165.00458544 164.80607211 177.50988211 149.28106703
179.43586267 181.98365273 170.98196794 179.1093176 176.91855744
168.32092784 162.33939782 165.18364866 160.52300507 174.14316386
163.01947601 172.01767945 173.33491959 169.75842718 198.04834503
192.82490521 164.54557943 206.36247244 165.47748898 195.26377975
164.37569092 156.15175531 162.15564208 179.34100362 167.22138242
147.23667125 162.86940215 167.84986671 172.99302505 166.77279814
196.6137667 159.79012341 166.5840824 170.68645637 165.62204521
174.5559345 165.0079216 187.92545129 166.86186393 179.78383824
161.0973573 167.44890343 157.38075812 151.35412246 171.3107829
162.57149341 182.49985133 163.24700057 168.72639903 169.05309467
167.19232875 161.06405208 176.87667712 165.48750185 179.68799986
158.7913483 170.22465411 182.66432721 173.5675715 176.85646836
157.31299754 174.88959677 183.78323508 174.36814558 182.55474697
180.03359793 180.53094948 161.09560099 172.29179934 161.22665588
171.88382477 159.04626132 169.43886536 163.75793589 157.73710983
174.68921523 176.19843414 167.39315397 181.17128255 174.2674597
186.05053154 177.06516302 171.78523683 166.14875436 163.31607668
174.01429569 194.98819875 169.75129209 164.25748789 180.25773528
170.44784934 157.81966006 171.33315907 174.71390637 160.55423274
163.92896899 177.29159542 168.30674234 165.42853878 176.46256226
162.61719142 166.60810831 165.83648812 184.83238352 188.99833856
161.3054697 175.30396693 175.28109026 171.54765201 162.08762813
164.53011089 189.86213299 170.83784593 163.25869004 198.68079225
166.95154328 152.03381334 152.25444225 149.75522816 161.79200594
162.13535052 183.37298831 165.40405341 155.59224806 172.68678385
179.35359654 174.19668349 163.46176882 168.26621173 162.97527574
192.80170974 151.29673582 178.65251432 163.17266558 165.11172588
183.11107905 169.69556831 166.35149789 178.74419135 166.28562032
169.96465166 178.24368042 175.3035525 170.16496554 158.80682882
187.10006553 178.90542991 171.65790645 183.19289193 168.17446717
155.84544031 177.96091745 186.28887898 187.89867406 163.26716924
169.71242393 152.9410412 158.68101969 171.12655559 178.1482624
187.45272185 173.02872935 163.8047623 169.95676819 179.36887054
157.01955088 185.58143864 170.19037101 157.221245 168.90639755
178.7045601 168.64074373 172.37416382 165.61890535 163.40873027
168.98683006 149.48186389 172.20815568 172.82947206 173.71584064
189.42642762 172.79575803 177.00005573 169.24498561 171.55576698
161.36400372 176.47928342 163.02642822 165.09656415 186.70951892
153.27990317 165.59289527 180.34566865 189.19506385 183.10723435
173.48070474 170.28701875 157.24642079 157.9096498 176.4248199 ]
Creating Pie Charts

With Pyplot, you can use the pie() function to draw pie charts:

Example

A simple pie chart:

import [Link] as plt

import numpy as np
y = [Link]([35, 25, 25, 15])
mylabels = ["Apples", "Bananas", "Cherries", "Dates"]
mycolors = ["black", "hotpink", "b", "#4CAF50"]
myexplode = [0.2, 0, 0, 0]

[Link](y, labels = mylabels, startangle = 90, explode = myexplode, shadow = True, colors =
mycolors )

[Link]()

As you can see the pie chart draws one piece (called a wedge) for each value in the array (in this
case [35, 25, 25, 15]).By default the plotting of the first wedge starts from the x-axis and
moves counterclockwise: