Data Visualization Cheat Sheet

1. Matplotlib:
Line Plot:
 Usage: Display the relationship between two continuous variables over a continuous interval.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import numpy as np

# Data for plotting

t = np.arange(0.0, 2.0, 0.01)
s = 1 + np.sin(2 * np.pi * t)

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(t, s)

ax.set(xlabel='time (s)', ylabel='voltage (mV)',

title='About as simple as it gets, folks')
ax.grid()

fig.savefig("test.png")
plt.show()

Scatter Plot:
 Usage: Show the distribution of individual data points and the relationship between two
continuous variables.
plt.style.use('_mpl-gallery')

# make the data

np.random.seed(3)
x = 4 + np.random.normal(0, 2, 24)
y = 4 + np.random.normal(0, 2, len(x))
# size and color:
sizes = np.random.uniform(15, 80, len(x))
colors = np.random.uniform(15, 80, len(x))

# plot
fig, ax = plt.subplots()

ax.scatter(x, y, s=sizes, c=colors, vmin=0, vmax=100)

ax.set(xlim=(0, 8), xticks=np.arange(1, 8),

ylim=(0, 8), yticks=np.arange(1, 8))

plt.show()

Bar Plot:
 Usage: Compare values across different categories or display the frequency distribution of
categorical data.
plt.style.use('_mpl-gallery')

# make data:
x = 0.5 + np.arange(8)
y = [4.8, 5.5, 3.5, 4.6, 6.5, 6.6, 2.6, 3.0]

# plot
fig, ax = plt.subplots()

ax.bar(x, y, width=1, edgecolor="white", linewidth=0.7)

ax.set(xlim=(0, 8), xticks=np.arange(1, 8),

ylim=(0, 8), yticks=np.arange(1, 8))

plt.show()
Histogram:
 Usage: Illustrate the distribution of a single continuous variable and its frequency.
plt.style.use('_mpl-gallery')

# make data
np.random.seed(1)
x = 4 + np.random.normal(0, 1.5, 200)

# plot:
fig, ax = plt.subplots()

ax.hist(x, bins=8, linewidth=0.5, edgecolor="white")

ax.set(xlim=(0, 8), xticks=np.arange(1, 8),

ylim=(0, 56), yticks=np.linspace(0, 56, 9))

plt.show()

Box Plot:

 Usage: Display the summary statistics (median, quartiles) and identify outliers in a dataset.
plt.style.use('_mpl-gallery')

# make data:
np.random.seed(10)
D = np.random.normal((3, 5, 4), (1.25, 1.00, 1.25), (100, 3))
# plot
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
VP = ax.boxplot(D, positions=[2, 4, 6], widths=1.5, patch_artist=True,
showmeans=False, showfliers=False,
medianprops={"color": "white", "linewidth": 0.5},
boxprops={"facecolor": "C0", "edgecolor": "white",
"linewidth": 0.5},
whiskerprops={"color": "C0", "linewidth": 1.5},
capprops={"color": "C0", "linewidth": 1.5})

ax.set(xlim=(0, 8), xticks=np.arange(1, 8),

ylim=(0, 8), yticks=np.arange(1, 8))

plt.show()

Pie Chart:
 Usage: Show the composition of a whole in terms of percentages.
# make data
x = [1, 2, 3, 4]
colors = plt.get_cmap('Blues')(np.linspace(0.2, 0.7, len(x)))

# plot
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.pie(x, colors=colors, radius=3, center=(4, 4),
wedgeprops={"linewidth": 1, "edgecolor": "white"}, frame=True)

ax.set(xlim=(0, 8), xticks=np.arange(1, 8),

ylim=(0, 8), yticks=np.arange(1, 8))

plt.show()
Polar Plot:
 Usage: Visualize data in a circular graph, often used for cyclic phenomena.
r = np.arange(0, 2, 0.01)
theta = 2 * np.pi * r

fig, ax = plt.subplots(subplot_kw={'projection': 'polar'})

ax.plot(theta, r)
ax.set_rmax(2)
ax.set_rticks([0.5, 1, 1.5, 2]) # Less radial ticks
ax.set_rlabel_position(-22.5) # Move radial labels away from plotted
line
ax.grid(True)

ax.set_title("A line plot on a polar axis", va='bottom')

plt.show()

2. Seaborn:
Distribution Plot:
 Usage: Combine histogram and KDE to visualize the distribution of a single variable.
penguins = sns.load_dataset("penguins")
sns.displot(data=penguins, x="flipper_length_mm", kind="kde")
Pair Plot:
 Usage: Explore pairwise relationships in a dataset, useful for identifying patterns.
penguins = sns.load_dataset("penguins")
sns.pairplot(penguins, hue="species")

Violin Plot:
  Usage: Combine aspects of box plot and KDE to show the distribution of a variable for
different categories.
df = sns.load_dataset("titanic")
sns.violinplot(x=df["age"])

Heatmap:
 Usage: Display the correlation between variables in a matrix form.
glue = sns.load_dataset("glue").pivot(index="Model", columns="Task",
values="Score")
sns.heatmap(glue)

Strip Plot:
 Usage: Show individual data points in relation to a categorical variable.
tips = sns.load_dataset("tips")
sns.stripplot(data=tips, x="total_bill")
Swarm Plot:
 Usage: Similar to strip plot, but points are adjusted to avoid overlap.
tips = sns.load_dataset("tips")
sns.swarmplot(data=tips, x="total_bill")

PairGrid:
 Usage: Create a grid of subplots to visualize pairwise relationships.
g = sns.PairGrid(penguins, diag_sharey=False)
g.map_upper(sns.scatterplot)
g.map_lower(sns.kdeplot)
g.map_diag(sns.kdeplot)
3. Plotly:
Choropleth Map:
 Usage: Display spatial variations and distributions over geographical regions.

import plotly.express as px

df = px.data.gapminder().query("year==2007")
fig = px.choropleth(df, locations="iso_alpha",
color="lifeExp", # lifeExp is a column of gapminder
hover_name="country", # column to add to hover information
color_continuous_scale=px.colors.sequential.Plasma)
fig.show()
Scatter Mapbox:
 Usage: Visualize geographical data on an interactive map.

geo_df = gpd.read_file(gpd.datasets.get_path('naturalearth_cities'))

px.set_mapbox_access_token(open(".mapbox_token").read())
fig = px.scatter_mapbox(geo_df,
lat=geo_df.geometry.y,
lon=geo_df.geometry.x,
hover_name="name",
zoom=1)
fig.show()
Bubble Chart:
 Usage: Show data points in a scatter plot with varying size.

df = px.data.gapminder()

fig = px.scatter(df.query("year==2007"), x="gdpPercap", y="lifeExp",

size="pop", color="continent",
hover_name="country", log_x=True, size_max=60)
fig.show()
Treemap:
 Usage: Represent hierarchical data as nested rectangles.

fig = px.treemap(
names = ["Eve","Cain", "Seth", "Enos", "Noam", "Abel", "Awan", "Enoch", "Azura"],
parents = ["", "Eve", "Eve", "Seth", "Seth", "Eve", "Eve", "Awan", "Eve"]
)
fig.update_traces(root_color="lightgrey")
fig.update_layout(margin = dict(t=50, l=25, r=25, b=25))
fig.show()
Funnel Chart:
 Usage: Illustrate stages in a process and visualize the flow of data.

data = dict(
number=[39, 27.4, 20.6, 11, 2],
stage=["Website visit", "Downloads", "Potential customers", "Requested price",
"invoice sent"])
fig = px.funnel(data, x='number', y='stage')
fig.show()
Area Chart:
 Usage: Display the cumulative contribution of different variables over time.

df = px.data.gapminder()
fig = px.area(df, x="year", y="pop", color="continent", line_group="country")
fig.show()

Donut Chart:
 Usage: A modified version of a pie chart with a hole in the center.

labels = ['Oxygen','Hydrogen','Carbon_Dioxide','Nitrogen']
values = [4500, 2500, 1053, 500]

# Use `hole` to create a donut-like pie chart

fig = go.Figure(data=[go.Pie(labels=labels, values=values, hole=.3)])
fig.show()