One of the most important parts of data analysis is in creating a great visualization to immediately convey the underlying meaning in the data. Data visualization is effective, as we humans are visual creatures and have evolved to be able to discern meaning when information is laid out in a way that our brain can interpret almost immediately when the impulses from the retina hit the brain.
Over the years, there has been significant research that has resulted in many effective visualization techniques to convey specific patterns in data. These patterns have been implemented in visualization libraries, and pandas is designed to utilize these and make their use very simple.
This chapter will cover several of these techniques, primarily focusing on matplotlib, and many of the common visualizations. We will do this in three steps. The first introduces the general concepts...