Storytelling with visualization sequence in Matplotlib - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Storytelling with visualization sequence

Start: Define data

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Create first plot

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Show plot to audience

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Create second plot

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Show second plot

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Add narrative text

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Repeat for more plots

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End: Complete story

This flow shows how to build a story by creating and showing plots one after another, adding text to guide the audience.

Execution Sample

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

x = [1, 2, 3, 4]
y1 = [10, 20, 25, 30]
y2 = [30, 25, 20, 10]

plt.plot(x, y1)
plt.title('First plot')
plt.show()

plt.plot(x, y2)
plt.title('Second plot')
plt.show()

This code creates two line plots one after another to tell a simple story with data.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Plot Created	Plot Title	Output
1	Define x and y1 data	No	N/A	Data ready
2	Plot x vs y1	Yes	First plot	Line plot with y1 values
3	Show first plot	Yes	First plot	Plot displayed to user
4	Plot x vs y2	Yes	Second plot	Line plot with y2 values
5	Show second plot	Yes	Second plot	Plot displayed to user
6	End of sequence	No	N/A	Story complete

💡 All plots created and shown, storytelling sequence complete

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 4	Final
x	undefined	[1, 2, 3, 4]	[1, 2, 3, 4]	[1, 2, 3, 4]	[1, 2, 3, 4]
y1	undefined	[10, 20, 25, 30]	[10, 20, 25, 30]	[10, 20, 25, 30]	[10, 20, 25, 30]
y2	undefined	undefined	undefined	[30, 25, 20, 10]	[30, 25, 20, 10]
plot	none	none	plot with y1	plot with y2	plot with y2

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why do we call plt.show() after each plot?

Calling plt.show() displays the current plot and pauses the code until the window is closed, so each plot appears separately as shown in steps 3 and 5.

What happens if we plot multiple lines without calling plt.show() in between?

Without plt.show() between plots, all lines appear on the same figure, not as separate plots. The execution_table shows separate plots because plt.show() is called after each.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the plot title at Step 4?

A First plot

B No title

C Second plot

D Undefined

💡 Hint

Check the 'Plot Title' column for Step 4 in the execution_table.

At which step is the first plot shown to the user?

A Step 2

B Step 3

C Step 4

D Step 5

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Action' and 'Output' columns in the execution_table for when the plot is displayed.

If we remove plt.show() after the first plot, what changes in the execution?

A Both plots appear on the same figure

B No plots appear

C Only the first plot appears

D Plots appear in reverse order

💡 Hint

Refer to the key moment about plt.show() and how it separates plots.

Concept Snapshot

Storytelling with visualization sequence:
- Prepare data
- Create a plot
- Call plt.show() to display it
- Add narrative or next plot
- Repeat for multiple visuals
- Each plt.show() pauses and shows current plot
- Helps guide audience step-by-step

Full Transcript

This lesson shows how to tell a story using a sequence of visualizations with matplotlib. We start by defining data arrays. Then we create the first plot and call plt.show() to display it. This pauses the code and shows the plot to the audience. Next, we create a second plot and show it again. Each plot is shown separately, helping the audience focus on one part of the story at a time. Calling plt.show() after each plot is important to separate visuals. Without it, all lines would appear on the same figure. This step-by-step approach helps make data stories clear and engaging.