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| -Matplotlib's Mission |
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| -==================== |
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| - |
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| -Matplotlib aims to be the foundational plotting library for the Scientific |
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| -Python Ecosystem. |
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| - |
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| - |
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| - |
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| -It has been over a decade since John Hunter wrote :ref:`History` and the world |
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| -has changed. Python is no longer a fringe language in science but is now one |
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| -of the most widely used languages in science and data science. Python, and |
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| -Matplotlib, are now regularly taught in schools and used in research both at |
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| -the inididivual grad student scale to the Mars helicopter [CITE]. Data |
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| -structures that are now considered standard, such as pandas.DataFrame or |
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| -xarray.DataArray, did not yet exist. Over that time there has also developed a |
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| -number of domain-specific plotting libraries extending Matplotlib. The |
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| -packaging ecosystem in Python has gotten much better than it was a decade ago, |
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| -expecting users to install Matplotlib and several extensions is more reasonable |
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| -than it was. In light of the changes to the world it is worth re-addressing |
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| -the Matplotlib's role in the wider Scientific Python Ecosystem. |
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| - |
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| - |
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| -To paraphrase from JDH's original requirements, Matplotlib should: |
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| - |
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| -* Produce publication quality output (including vector formats); |
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| -* Be embeddedable in graphical user interfaces for application development; |
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| -* Code be understandable and extendable by scientists and data scientists; |
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| -* Support users across all fields of science and industry; |
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| -* Easy things should be easy; |
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| -* Hard things should be possible. |
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| - |
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| -Unfortunately, these goals have inherent tension. "Easy", while subjective and |
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| -context dependent, it can be understood as how little work the user has to do |
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| -to get from data to a visualization. How much work the user has to do depends |
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| -on how well aligned the assumptions the library makes about what the user wants |
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| -to do. However, given the broad range of domains where Matplotlib is used, |
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| -from time series analysis to statistics or from image analysis to mapping, it |
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| -is very easy to make assumptions that work well for one application that are |
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| -catastrophically wrong for another! To all of our users we need to think of |
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| -Matplotlib as not just the core library, but also including the domain specific |
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| -plotting libraries built on and around us. |
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| - |
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| - |
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| -To this end, Matplotlib's role in the ecosystem is to provide the tools to build |
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| -the tools that users will use. |
| 1 | +Matplotlib Mission Statement |
| 2 | +============================ |
| 3 | + |
| 4 | +The mission of the Matplotlib developer community is to develop, maintain, and |
| 5 | +support Matplotlib and its extensions which provide plotting tools for users of |
| 6 | +the Scientific Python Ecosystem. We success is based on how effectively we |
| 7 | +enable our users, across scientific, industrial, commercial, and educational |
| 8 | +applications, to achieve their goals. A diverse developer community creates |
| 9 | +the best software and we welcome anyone, regardless of experience, education, |
| 10 | +gender, or nationality, who shares our mission to the community. |
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