Dates on x-axis in Matplotlib - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to import the module needed to work with dates in matplotlib.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.dates as [1]

fig, ax = plt.subplots()

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Adates

Btime

Cdatetime

Dcalendar

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'datetime' instead of 'dates' which is a different module.

Trying to import 'time' or 'calendar' which are standard Python modules but not for matplotlib.

The matplotlib.dates module is used to handle dates on the x-axis in matplotlib plots.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to convert a list of date strings into datetime objects for plotting.

Matplotlib

import datetime

dates = ['2024-01-01', '2024-01-02', '2024-01-03']
dates_dt = [datetime.datetime.strptime(date, [1]) for date in dates]

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A"%Y/%m/%d"

B"%Y-%m-%d"

C"%d-%m-%Y"

D"%m-%d-%Y"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using slashes '/' instead of dashes '-' in the format string.

Mixing up day and month positions.

The date strings are in the format 'year-month-day', so the format string "%Y-%m-%d" correctly parses them.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to plot dates on the x-axis correctly.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.dates as mdates
import datetime

dates = [datetime.datetime(2024, 1, 1), datetime.datetime(2024, 1, 2), datetime.datetime(2024, 1, 3)]
values = [10, 20, 15]

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(dates, values)
ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter([1])
plt.show()

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Amdates.AutoDateLocator()

Bmdates.DateLocator()

Cmdates.DateFormatter('%Y-%m-%d')

Dmdates.DayLocator()

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a locator instead of a formatter for setting the date format.

Not setting any formatter, resulting in default or unreadable date labels.

The DateFormatter formats the dates on the x-axis as strings. Without it, dates may not display properly.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a dictionary comprehension that maps each date string to its datetime object only if the date is after January 1, 2024.

Matplotlib

import datetime

dates = ['2023-12-31', '2024-01-01', '2024-01-02']
date_dict = {date: [1] for date in dates if [2]

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Adatetime.datetime.strptime(date, '%Y-%m-%d')

Bdate > '2024-01-01'

Cdatetime.datetime.strptime(date, '%d-%m-%Y')

Ddate < '2024-01-01'

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong date format in strptime.

Using the wrong comparison operator or date string.

The comprehension converts date strings to datetime objects only if the string date is greater than '2024-01-01'.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a plot with dates on the x-axis, format the dates as 'Month-Day', and rotate the labels for better readability.

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.dates as mdates
import datetime

# Prepare data
dates = [datetime.datetime(2024, 1, i) for i in range(1, 6)]
values = [5, 7, 6, 8, 7]

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(dates, values)
ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter([1])
plt.setp(ax.get_xticklabels(), rotation=[2], ha=[3])
plt.show()

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Amdates.DateFormatter('%b-%d')

B45

C'right'

Dmdates.DateLocator()

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a locator instead of a formatter for date format.

Not rotating labels or using wrong rotation angle.

Incorrect horizontal alignment string.

The DateFormatter formats dates as 'Jan-01' etc. Rotating labels 45 degrees and aligning them right improves readability.