G1Joshi Matplotlib
Matplotlib is the grandfather of Python plotting. It is verbose but provides infinite control.
When to Use
- Publication: Creating figures for papers (PDF/SVG).
- Customization: When you need to control every pixel.
- Backend: It powers Seaborn and Pandas plotting.
Core Concepts
Figure & Axes
The container (fig) and the plot area (ax). Always use the OO interface, not plt.plot.
Backends
Interactive (Qt, WebAgg) vs Static (Agg).
Best Practices (2025)
Do:
- Use
plt.subplots(): The Object-Oriented style. - Use
style.use('seaborn-v0_8'): Make it look decent by default.
Don't:
- Don't use
pylab: It is deprecated and pollutes namespaces.