API Overview
See also the API Changes.
Usage patterns
Below we describe several common approaches to plotting with Matplotlib.
The pyplot API
matplotlib.pyplot
is a collection of command style functions that make Matplotlib work like MATLAB. Each pyplot function makes some change to a figure: e.g., creates a figure, creates a plotting area in a figure, plots some lines in a plotting area, decorates the plot with labels, etc.
pyplot
is mainly intended for interactive plots and simple cases of programmatic plot generation.
Further reading:
- The
matplotlib.pyplot
function reference - Pyplot tutorial
- Pyplot examples
The object-oriented API
At its core, Matplotlib is object-oriented. We recommend directly working with the objects, if you need more control and customization of your plots.
In many cases you will create a Figure
and one or more Axes
using pyplot.subplots
and from then on only work on these objects. However, it's also possible to create Figure
s explicitly (e.g. when including them in GUI applications).
Further reading:
-
matplotlib.axes.Axes
andmatplotlib.figure.Figure
for an overview of plotting functions. - Most of the examples use the object-oriented approach (except for the pyplot section)
The pylab API (disapproved)
Warning
Since heavily importing into the global namespace may result in unexpected behavior, the use of pylab is strongly discouraged. Use matplotlib.pyplot
instead.
pylab
is a module that includes matplotlib.pyplot
, numpy
, numpy.fft
, numpy.linalg
, numpy.random
, and some additional functions, all within a single namespace. Its original purpose was to mimic a MATLAB-like way of working by importing all functions into the global namespace. This is considered bad style nowadays.
Modules
Matplotlib consists of the following submodules:
matplotlib
matplotlib.afm
matplotlib.animation
matplotlib.artist
matplotlib.axes
matplotlib.axis
matplotlib.backend_bases
matplotlib.backend_managers
matplotlib.backend_tools
matplotlib.backends
matplotlib.bezier
matplotlib.blocking_input
matplotlib.category
matplotlib.cbook
matplotlib.cm
matplotlib.collections
matplotlib.colorbar
matplotlib.colors
matplotlib.container
matplotlib.contour
matplotlib.dates
matplotlib.docstring
matplotlib.dviread
matplotlib.figure
matplotlib.font_manager
matplotlib.fontconfig_pattern
matplotlib.gridspec
matplotlib.image
matplotlib.legend
matplotlib.legend_handler
matplotlib.lines
matplotlib.markers
matplotlib.mathtext
matplotlib.mlab
matplotlib.offsetbox
matplotlib.patches
matplotlib.path
matplotlib.patheffects
matplotlib.pyplot
matplotlib.projections
matplotlib.projections.polar
matplotlib.quiver
matplotlib.rcsetup
matplotlib.sankey
matplotlib.scale
matplotlib.sphinxext.plot_directive
matplotlib.spines
matplotlib.style
matplotlib.table
matplotlib.testing
matplotlib.text
matplotlib.texmanager
matplotlib.textpath
matplotlib.ticker
matplotlib.tight_bbox
matplotlib.tight_layout
matplotlib.transforms
matplotlib.tri
matplotlib.type1font
matplotlib.units
matplotlib.widgets
matplotlib._api
matplotlib._enums
Toolkits
Toolkits are collections of application-specific functions that extend Matplotlib. The following toolkits are included:
- mplot3d API
- Matplotlib axes_grid1 Toolkit
- Matplotlib axisartist Toolkit
- Matplotlib axes_grid Toolkit
© 2012–2021 Matplotlib Development Team. All rights reserved.
Licensed under the Matplotlib License Agreement.
https://matplotlib.org/3.4.1/api/index.html