replot/README.md

Replot

This repo is an attempt for a better API to plot graphs with Matplotlib in Python.

Features

These are the current features. I will extend the module whenever I feel the need to introduce new functions and methods. Please let me know about any bad design in the API, or required feature!

Saner default plots

Matplotlib plots are quite ugly by default, colors are not really suited for optimal black and white print, or ease reading for colorblind people. This module imports and makes use of [Seaborn](https://github.com/mwaskom/seaborn) for saner default params.

<dt>Support `with` statement</dt>
<dd>Ever got tired of having to start any figure with a call to
`matplotlib.pyplot.subplots()`? This module abstracts it using `with`
statement. New figures are defined by a `with` statement, and are `show`n
automatically upon leaving the `with` context.

<dt>Plot functions</dt>
<dd>Ever got annoyed by the fact that `matplotlib` can only plot point
series and not evaluate a function _à la_ Mathematica? This module let
you do things like `plot(sin, (-10, 10))` to plot a sine function between
-10 and 10.

<dt>Order of call of methods is no longer important</dt>
<dd>When calling a method from `matplotlib`, it is directly applied to the
figure, and not deferred to the final render call. Then, if calling
`matplotlib.pyplot.legend()` **before** having actually `plot`ted
anything, it will fail. This is not the case with this module, as it
abstracts on top of `matplotlib` and do the actual render only when the
figure is to be `show`n. Even after having called the `show` method, you
can still change everything in your figure!</dd>

<dt>Does not interfere with `matplotlib`</dt>
<dd>You can still use the default `matplotlib` if you want, as
`matplotlib` state and parameters are not directly affected by this
module, contrary to what `seaborn` do when you import it for
instance.</dd>

<dt>Useful aliases</dt>
<dd>You think `loc="top left"` is easier to remember than `loc="upper
left"` in a `matplotlib.pyplot.legend()` call? No worry, this module
aliases it for you! (same for "bottom" with respect to "lower")</dd>

<dt>Automatic legend</dt>
<dd>If any of your plots contains a `label` keyword, a legend will be
added automatically on your graph (you can still explicitly tell it not to
add a legend by setting the `legend` attribute to `False`).</dd>

Examples

A more up to date doc is still to be written, but you can have a look at the Examples.ipynb Jupyter notebook for examples.

License

This Python module is released under MIT license. Feel free to contribute and reuse. For more details, see LICENSE.txt file.

Thanks

• Matplotlib for their really good backend (but not for their terrible API)
• Seaborn and prettyplotlib which gave me the original idea.