https://www.datacamp.com/community/tutorials/matplotlib-tutorial-python#anatomy

Matplotlib Tutorial

After importing the pyplot and numpy module: 
``` python
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
```
We can create a figure with a single axes, and then plot data onto the axes
```python
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot([1,2,3,4],[4,3,2,1])
```
The plotting functions expect a numpy array or a numpy masked array as input

Using the plotting functions

The pyplot module in the matplotlib package is useful for quickly creating a plot. The figures and axes that are a part of the plot are automatically created, without having to explicitly specify them. Using pyplot, we can utilize histograms, line, scatter, 3D, Contour, Polar, and Image plots. 

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Matplotlib is a Python library for "creating static, animated, and interactive visualizations." Some examples of these visualizations are histograms, bar charts, scatter plots, and image plots.

Matplotlib

- Figure object: the window/page that the graphic is drawn on, which can contain one or more axes or plots
- Axes objects: the area on which the data is plotted. Each Axes has a xaxis, yaxis, and a title. The xaxis and yaxis both contain ticks and the ticks' labels

Components of a matplotlib plot

2 useful tips for showing the figure in Jupyter Notebook


* %matplotlib inline


* plt.show()

Show plot in Jupyter Notebook

In Jupyter notebooks, the default image format for matplotlib plots can result in blurry graphics. To achieve crisper, high-quality images, the backend_inline module can be configured to output plots in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format using backend_inline.set_matplotlib_formats('svg').

Matplotlib SVG Display Format

When creating data visualizations, adjusting the dimensions of the plot is often necessary to properly accommodate the data. In matplotlib, the default figure size can be modified globally by updating the rcParams dictionary, specifically by setting d2l.plt.rcParams['figure.figsize'] to a desired width and height tuple.

Matplotlib Figure Size Configuration

A well-formatted plot requires clearly defined axes to be interpretable. In matplotlib, an axes object can be associated with various properties using built-in methods, such as setting the $$x$$-axis and $$y$$-axis labels (set_xlabel, set_ylabel), defining the visible ranges (set_xlim, set_ylim), determining the scaling strategy (set_xscale, set_yscale), and adding legends or grid lines.

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