Matplotlib

Infobox Software
name = matplotlib



caption = Example plot by matplotlib
author = John Hunter
latest release version = 0.98.3
latest release date = 2008-07-03
operating_system = Cross-platform
genre = Plotting
license = [http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/license.html Own free licence]
website = [http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/ matplotlib.sf.net]

Matplotlib is a plotting library for the Python programming language and its NumPy numerical mathematics extension. It provides a "pylab" API designed to closely resemble that of MATLAB, thereby making it easy to learn for experienced MATLAB users. Matplotlib is written and maintained primarily by John Hunter, and is distributed under a BSD-style license.

The "pylab" interface is procedural and based on a state machine, like OpenGL. There is also an OOP interface which has less thorough documentation and greater complexity but which allows matplotlib plots to be embedded into applications using generic GUI toolkits, like wxPython, Qt or GTK.

Comparison with MATLAB

Matplotlib has become a viable alternative for many MATLAB users, and – like MATLAB before it – it is on its way to become a commonly used teaching tool for numerical mathematics and signal processing.

Advantages of Python+NumPy+Matplotlib over MATLAB include:

* Based on Python, a full-featured modern object-oriented programming language suitable for large-scale software development
* Suitable for fast scripting, including CGI scripts
* Free, open source, no license servers

Compare to

* GNU Octave
* [http://code.enthought.com/chaco Chaco]
* wxPython (module wx.lib.plot.py)
* Biggles [http://biggles.sourceforge.net/]
* DISLIN
* Gnuplot-py [http://gnuplot-py.sourceforge.net/]
* PyPlotter [http://www.eckhartarnold.de/apppages/pyplotter.html] – compatible with Jython
* PyX [http://pyx.sourceforge.net/]
* ReportLab
* SciPy (modules plt and gplt)
* PyCha [http://www.lorenzogil.com/projects/pycha/] - libcairo [http://www.cairographics.org/] implementation

External links

* [http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/ Matplotlib Home Page]
* [http://www.scipy.org/Cookbook/Matplotlib/ Matplotlib Cookbook]