**Matplotlib** is a powerful and widely used Python library for creating static, animated, and interactive visualizations. It provides a flexible and customizable way to generate a wide range of plots and charts, including line plots, bar charts, histograms, scatter plots, and more.

Definition

Although it offers comprehensive functionality to create a variety of plot types, it remains surprisingly **easy to use**. On top of that, `matplotlib` is **open source**, which means it is freely available and continuously improved by a large community.

`matplotlib` is an excellent starting point for learning data visualization in Python, as many other libraries are built on top of it.

Before diving into `matplotlib` let's have a look at an example of the plot created with its help:

This plot can be created with only a few lines of code. Furthermore, it is possible to make it **interactive**, showcasing the capabilities of `matplotlib`.  

The majority of `matplotlib` utilities are located in the `pyplot` submodule, which is used throughout the course.


import unittest
import ast
import inspect
import user_code

def _dynamic_test(test_case, condition, success_message, failure_message):
    if condition:
        test_case._testMethodName = success_message
        test_case.assertTrue(True, success_message)
    else:
        test_case._testMethodName = failure_message
        test_case.fail(failure_message)

class TestMatplotlibImports(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        self.source = inspect.getsource(user_code)
        self.tree = ast.parse(self.source)

    def test_import_without_from(self):
        found = any(
            isinstance(node, ast.Import) and
            any(alias.name == "matplotlib.pyplot" and alias.asname == "plt" for alias in node.names)
            for node in self.tree.body
        )
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            found,
            "Import without 'from' keyword is correct",
            "Missing or incorrect import without 'from' keyword"
        )

    def test_import_with_from(self):
        found = any(
            isinstance(node, ast.ImportFrom) and
            node.module == "matplotlib" and
            any(alias.name == "pyplot" and alias.asname == "plt" for alias in node.names)
            for node in self.tree.body
        )
        _dynamic_test(
            self,
            found,
            "Import with 'from' keyword is correct",
            "Missing or incorrect import with 'from' keyword"
        )

if __name__ == "__main__":
    unittest.main()


test_import.py

Data is everywhere around us, and making sense of it is extremely important. Visualization helps you deal with data by finding certain patterns and insights in it. You will develop a solid foundation of data visualization using Python and its libraries, such as matplotlib and seaborn, to get as much information from data as possible in a neat and concise way.

First, we will discuss plotting applications, Matplotlib library, and its advantages. Afterwards you will create your first simple plot using Matplotlib.

Now you are ready to create various commonly used in practice plots. Without further ado, let's dive in right now!

Plotting and visualization is not only about creating a plot or several plots, it is also about making them clear, understandable and pleasant to look at. Time to learn plots customization in maplotlib, let's do it!

Statistics is essential in working with data, hence why it is extremely important to know how to create various statistical plots. Now it's time for us to explore the most common ones.

Seaborn is another powerful plotting library in Python built on top of matplotlib. Now that you are familiar with matplotlib, it's time to dive into visualization with seaborn.

Why Matplotlib Matters?

Soluzione