Tick marks and tick labels in Matplotlib - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Tick marks and tick labels

📖 Scenario: You are creating a simple line chart to show the sales of a small shop over 5 days. You want to control the tick marks and labels on the x-axis to make the chart easy to read.

🎯 Goal: Build a matplotlib line chart with custom tick marks and tick labels on the x-axis.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a list of sales numbers for 5 days.

Create a list of day names for the x-axis labels.

Plot the sales data as a line chart.

Set the x-axis tick marks to match the days.

Set the x-axis tick labels to the day names.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Customizing tick marks and labels helps make charts clearer and easier to understand in reports and presentations.

💼 Career

Data analysts and scientists often need to control chart details like tick marks to communicate data effectively.

1

Create sales data and day names

Create a list called sales with these values: 10, 15, 7, 12, 9. Create a list called days with these values: 'Mon', 'Tue', 'Wed', 'Thu', 'Fri'.

Matplotlib

# Create the sales list and the days list
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use square brackets to create lists. Separate values with commas.

2

Import matplotlib and prepare the plot

Import matplotlib.pyplot as plt. Use plt.figure() to create a new figure.

Matplotlib

sales = [10, 15, 7, 12, 9]
days = ['Mon', 'Tue', 'Wed', 'Thu', 'Fri']
# Import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# Create a new figure with plt.figure()
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use import matplotlib.pyplot as plt to import. Then call plt.figure() to start a new plot.

3

Plot sales and set x-axis ticks and labels

Use plt.plot(sales) to plot the sales data. Use plt.xticks() to set the tick marks at positions 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and the tick labels to the days list.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

sales = [10, 15, 7, 12, 9]
days = ['Mon', 'Tue', 'Wed', 'Thu', 'Fri']

plt.figure()
# Plot the sales data
# Set x-axis tick marks at 0,1,2,3,4
# Set x-axis tick labels to days
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use plt.plot(sales) to draw the line. Use plt.xticks() with two arguments: a list of positions and a list of labels.

4

Display the plot

Use plt.show() to display the plot with the custom tick marks and labels.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

sales = [10, 15, 7, 12, 9]
days = ['Mon', 'Tue', 'Wed', 'Thu', 'Fri']

plt.figure()
plt.plot(sales)
plt.xticks([0, 1, 2, 3, 4], days)
# Display the plot
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Call plt.show() to open the plot window.