Learn Multiple Line Plots | Creating Commonly Used Plots

Often, it's necessary to create multiple line plots on a single Axes object to compare different trends or patterns. This can be done in two main ways. Here's the first approach.

Here is a sample of average yearly temperatures (in $\degree$ F) of Seattle and Boston:


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import pandas as pd
url = 'https://content-media-cdn.codefinity.com/courses/47339f29-4722-4e72-a0d4-6112c70ff738/weather_data.csv'
# Loading the dataset with the average yearly temperatures in Boston and Seattle
weather_df = pd.read_csv(url, index_col=0)
print(weather_df.head())

Two line plots will be used to compare data from Seattle and Boston.

First Option

Call plot() twice to draw two separate line plots on the same Axes. The Series indices (years) automatically become the x-axis values for both lines.


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import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd
weather_df = pd.read_csv('https://content-media-cdn.codefinity.com/courses/47339f29-4722-4e72-a0d4-6112c70ff738/weather_data.csv', index_col=0)
# Calling the plot() function for each of the line plots
plt.plot(weather_df['Boston'], '-o')
plt.plot(weather_df['Seattle'], '-o')
plt.show()

Second Option

Here plot() is called once. Because both series have markers, matplotlib treats them as two separate plots, again using their indices for the x-axis.

If no markers are given, plot() draws only one line, using the first Series as x and the second as y.


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import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd
weather_df = pd.read_csv('https://content-media-cdn.codefinity.com/courses/47339f29-4722-4e72-a0d4-6112c70ff738/weather_data.csv', index_col=0)
# Calling the plot() function once for two line plots
plt.plot(weather_df['Boston'], '-o', weather_df['Seattle'], '-o')
plt.show()

Third Option

You can also pass the entire DataFrame to plot(). Each column becomes a separate line, and the DataFrame’s index is used for the x-axis. This is a quick way to visualize multiple time series or features without calling plot() repeatedly.


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import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd
weather_df = pd.read_csv('https://content-media-cdn.codefinity.com/courses/47339f29-4722-4e72-a0d4-6112c70ff738/weather_data.csv', index_col=0)
# Calling the plot() function for whole DataFrame
plt.plot(weather_df, '-o')
plt.show()

Study More

Feel free to explore even more about line plots with plot() function documentation.

Task

Swipe to start coding

Use the correct function to create a 2 line plots.
Pass data_linear as an argument in the first plot function, do not use any markers.
Pass data_squared as an argument in the second function, use 'o' markers with solid line.

Solution

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Section 2. Chapter 2

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