The supporting components of the matplotlib stack

In addition to the three major components of the matplotlib stack, there are supporting components. These include the following:

• Configuration support

• Utility modules and functions

• C extensions

• External libraries upon which matplotlib depends

We will touch on these in the coming chapters. They are related to the given topics at hand, but they do not impact the structure or nature of matplotlib's overall architecture.

Combining the details uncovered in the previous sections, the following diagram portrays a logical architecture for matplotlib that glosses over the finer details:

To make this more of a living reality, we will follow this high-level description with some more detailed examinations, which consist of the following:

• Learning about matplotlib modules and associated namespaces

• Creating a sample import graph

• Following the execution of the pyplot functions through the matplotlib stack