Axes vs pyplot interface comparison in Matplotlib - Hands-On Comparison

Axes vs pyplot interface comparison

📖 Scenario: You are working on a simple data visualization project. You want to understand two ways to create plots using matplotlib: the pyplot interface and the Axes interface. This will help you choose the best method for your future projects.

🎯 Goal: Create two line plots showing the same data: one using the pyplot interface and one using the Axes interface. Compare their outputs.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a list of numbers called data with values [1, 3, 2, 4]

Create a figure and axis object using plt.subplots()

Plot the data using the Axes interface method ax.plot()

Plot the same data using the pyplot interface method plt.plot()

Display both plots separately

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Data scientists and analysts often create visualizations to understand data. Knowing both the pyplot and Axes interfaces helps you choose the best way to build clear and flexible plots.

💼 Career

Understanding matplotlib's two main plotting interfaces is essential for data visualization tasks in data science, analytics, and research roles.

1

Create the data list

Create a list called data with these exact values: [1, 3, 2, 4].

Matplotlib

# Create the list called data with values [1, 3, 2, 4]
data = []

Need a hint?

Use square brackets to create a list and separate numbers with commas.

2

Create figure and axis objects

Import matplotlib.pyplot as plt. Then create a figure and axis object using plt.subplots() and save them as fig and ax.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Create figure and axis objects using plt.subplots()
fig, ax = None, None

Need a hint?

Use import matplotlib.pyplot as plt and then fig, ax = plt.subplots().

3

Plot data using Axes interface

Use the ax.plot() method to plot the data list on the axis object ax.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

data = [1, 3, 2, 4]

fig, ax = plt.subplots()

# Plot data using ax.plot()
ax.plot([])

Need a hint?

Call ax.plot(data) to plot the list on the axis.

4

Plot data using pyplot interface and show plots

Plot the same data list using plt.plot(). Then call plt.show() twice: once after ax.plot() to show the Axes plot, and once after plt.plot() to show the pyplot plot.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

data = [1, 3, 2, 4]

fig, ax = plt.subplots()

ax.plot(data)

# Show the Axes plot

# Plot data using plt.plot()

# Show the pyplot plot

Need a hint?

Use plt.plot(data) to plot with pyplot and plt.show() to display each plot.