Matplotlib has two interfaces. See :ref:`api_interfaces` for a more detailed description of both and their recommended use cases.
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**Axes interface** (object-based, explicit)
create a `.Figure` and one or more `~.axes.Axes` objects, then *explicitly* use
methods on these objects to add data, configure limits, set labels etc.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
API:
- `~.pyplot.subplots`: create Figure and Axes
- :mod:`~matplotlib.axes`: add data, limits, labels etc.
- `.Figure`: for figure-level methods
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Example:
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fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(x, y)
ax.set_title("Sample plot")
plt.show()
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**pyplot interface** (function-based, implicit)
consists of functions in the `.pyplot` module. Figure and Axes are manipulated
through these functions and are only *implicitly* present in the background.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
API:
- `matplotlib.pyplot`
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Example:
.. code-block:: python
:class: api-interface-example
plt.plot(x, y)
plt.title("Sample plot")
plt.show()
Alphabetical list of modules:
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 1
matplotlib_configuration_api.rst
afm_api.rst
animation_api.rst
artist_api.rst
axes_api.rst
axis_api.rst
backend_bases_api.rst
backend_managers_api.rst
backend_tools_api.rst
index_backend_api.rst
bezier_api.rst
category_api.rst
cbook_api.rst
cm_api.rst
collections_api.rst
colorbar_api.rst
colors_api.rst
container_api.rst
contour_api.rst
dates_api.rst
docstring_api.rst
dviread.rst
figure_api.rst
font_manager_api.rst
ft2font.rst
gridspec_api.rst
hatch_api.rst
image_api.rst
layout_engine_api.rst
legend_api.rst
legend_handler_api.rst
lines_api.rst
markers_api.rst
mathtext_api.rst
mlab_api.rst
offsetbox_api.rst
patches_api.rst
path_api.rst
patheffects_api.rst
pyplot_summary.rst
projections_api.rst
quiver_api.rst
rcsetup_api.rst
sankey_api.rst
scale_api.rst
sphinxext_mathmpl_api.rst
sphinxext_plot_directive_api.rst
sphinxext_figmpl_directive_api.rst
spines_api.rst
style_api.rst
table_api.rst
testing_api.rst
text_api.rst
texmanager_api.rst
ticker_api.rst
tight_bbox_api.rst
tight_layout_api.rst
transformations.rst
tri_api.rst
type1font.rst
typing_api.rst
units_api.rst
widgets_api.rst
_api_api.rst
_enums_api.rst
toolkits/mplot3d.rst
toolkits/axes_grid1.rst
toolkits/axisartist.rst
pylab.rst