Matplotlib

Matplotlib is the grandfather of Python plotting. It is verbose but provides infinite control.

When to Use

• Publication: Creating figures for papers (PDF/SVG).
• Customization: When you need to control every pixel.
• Backend: It powers Seaborn and Pandas plotting.

Core Concepts

Figure & Axes

The container (fig) and the plot area (ax). Always use the OO interface, not plt.plot.

Backends

Interactive (Qt, WebAgg) vs Static (Agg).

Best Practices (2025)

Do:

• Use plt.subplots(): The Object-Oriented style.
• Use style.use('seaborn-v0_8'): Make it look decent by default.

Don't:

• Don't use pylab: It is deprecated and pollutes namespaces.

References

• Matplotlib Documentation