Plotting Histogram in Python using Matplotlib

A histogram is basically used to represent data provided in a form of some groups.It is accurate method for the graphical representation of numerical data distribution.It is a type of bar plot where X-axis represents the bin ranges while Y-axis gives information about frequency.

Creating a Histogram

To create a histogram the first step is to create bin of the ranges, then distribute the whole range of the values into a series of intervals, and the count the values which fall into each of the intervals.Bins are clearly identified as consecutive, non-overlapping intervals of variables.The matplotlib.pyplot.hist() function is used to compute and create histogram of x.
The following table shows the parameters accepted by matplotlib.pyplot.hist() function :

Attribute	parameter
x	array or sequence of array
bins	optional parameter contains integer or sequence or strings
density	optional parameter contains boolean values
range	optional parameter represents upper and lower range of bins
histtype	optional parameter used to creae type of histogram [bar, barstacked, step, stepfilled], default is “bar”
align	optional parameter controls the plotting of histogram [left, right, mid]
weights	optional parameter contains array of weights having same dimensions as x
bottom	location of the basline of each bin
rwidth	optional parameter which is relative width of the bars with respect to bin width
color	optional parameter used to set color or sequence of color specs
label	optional parameter string or sequence of string to match with multiple datasets
log	optional parameter used to set histogram axis on log scale

Let’s create a basic histogram of some random values.Below code creates a simple histogram of some random values:

from matplotlib import pyplot as plt 
import numpy as np 
  
  
# Creating dataset 
a = np.array([22, 87, 5, 43, 56,  
              73, 55, 54, 11, 
              20, 51, 5, 79, 31, 
              27]) 
  
# Creating histogram 
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize =(10, 7)) 
ax.hist(a, bins = [0, 25, 50, 75, 100]) 
  
# Show plot 
plt.show() 

Output :

Customization of Histogram

Matplotlib provides a range of different methods to customize histogram.
matplotlib.pyplot.hist() function itself provides many attributes with the help of which we can modify a histogram.The hist() function provide a patches object which gives access to the properties of the created objects, using this we can modify the plot according to our will.

Example 1:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
import numpy as np 
from matplotlib import colors 
from matplotlib.ticker import PercentFormatter 
  
# Creating dataset 
np.random.seed(23685752) 
N_points = 10000
n_bins = 20
  
# Creating distribution 
x = np.random.randn(N_points) 
y = .8 ** x + np.random.randn(10000) + 25
  
# Creating histogram 
fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 1, 
                        figsize =(10, 7),  
                        tight_layout = True) 
  
axs.hist(x, bins = n_bins) 
  
# Show plot 
plt.show() 

Output :

Example 2: The code below modifies the above histogram for a better view and accurate readings.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
import numpy as np 
from matplotlib import colors 
from matplotlib.ticker import PercentFormatter 
  
  
# Creating dataset 
np.random.seed(23685752) 
N_points = 10000
n_bins = 20
  
# Creating distribution 
x = np.random.randn(N_points) 
y = .8 ** x + np.random.randn(10000) + 25
legend = ['distribution'] 
  
# Creating histogram 
fig, axs = plt.subplots(1, 1, 
                        figsize =(10, 7),  
                        tight_layout = True) 
  
  
# Remove axes splines  
for s in ['top', 'bottom', 'left', 'right']:  
    axs.spines[s].set_visible(False)  
  
# Remove x, y ticks 
axs.xaxis.set_ticks_position('none')  
axs.yaxis.set_ticks_position('none')  
    
# Add padding between axes and labels  
axs.xaxis.set_tick_params(pad = 5)  
axs.yaxis.set_tick_params(pad = 10)  
  
# Add x, y gridlines  
axs.grid(b = True, color ='grey',  
        linestyle ='-.', linewidth = 0.5,  
        alpha = 0.6)  
  
# Add Text watermark  
fig.text(0.9, 0.15, 'Jeeteshgavande30',  
         fontsize = 12,  
         color ='red', 
         ha ='right', 
         va ='bottom',  
         alpha = 0.7)  
  
# Creating histogram 
N, bins, patches = axs.hist(x, bins = n_bins) 
  
# Setting color 
fracs = ((N**(1 / 5)) / N.max()) 
norm = colors.Normalize(fracs.min(), fracs.max()) 
  
for thisfrac, thispatch in zip(fracs, patches): 
    color = plt.cm.viridis(norm(thisfrac)) 
    thispatch.set_facecolor(color) 
  
# Adding extra features     
plt.xlabel("X-axis") 
plt.ylabel("y-axis") 
plt.legend(legend) 
plt.title('Customized histogram') 
  
# Show plot 
plt.show() 

Output :

My Personal Notes

Creating a Histogram

Customization of Histogram

Recommended Posts: