Creating our first chart

Now that we have all the required Python modules installed, we can create our own charts using Matplotlib.

We can create charts from only a few lines of Python code.

Getting ready

Successfully installing Matplotlib, as shown in the previous recipe, is a requirement for this recipe.

How to do it…

Using the minimum amount of code, as presented on the official Matplotlib website, we can create our first chart. Well, almost. The sample code shown on the website does not work until we import the show function from pylab and then call it:

Matplotlib_our_first_chart.py

We can simplify the code and even improve it by using another of the many examples provided on the official Matplotlib website. The pylab module comes with its own plotting function, so we do not need to import matplotlib, after all, if we wish to simplify the code:

Matplotlib_second_chart.py

How it works…

The Python Matplotlib module, combined with add-ons such as numpy, creates a very rich programming environment...