✅ 1.
Learn by Doing: Start with Common Plot Types
Start by practicing the most used plots:
Plot Type Function Example Use
Line Plot plt.plot() Training loss over time
Scatter Plot plt.scatter Classification data
()
Bar Chart plt.bar() Accuracy scores
Histogram plt.hist() Distribution of predictions
Contour Plot plt.contour Decision boundaries
f()
💡 Practice idea: Pick one plot each day and play with it using random or real data.
✅ 2. Use matplotlib with numpy
Most matplotlib examples work well with NumPy arrays. Use np.linspace,
np.random, or np.meshgrid to generate data.
python
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import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x)
plt.plot(x, y)
plt.title("Sine Wave")
plt.xlabel("x")
plt.ylabel("sin(x)")
plt.grid(True)
plt.show()
✅ 3. Use the Official Gallery
Go to: https://matplotlib.org/stable/gallery/index.html
Browse example plots and copy them. This helps you get familiar with syntax and options.
✅ 4. Start with pyplot, Learn object-oriented Later
You're using plt.scatter() or plt.plot() — that's pyplot style.
Later, switch to object-oriented (fig, ax = plt.subplots()), which is better for
custom plots, multiple plots, and professional dashboards.
✅ 5. Write a Mini Cheat Sheet
Start your own notes for:
● How to change color, size, style
● How to add legends and titles
● How to save figures
● How to plot multiple lines or subplots
Or use mine here:
python
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plt.plot(x, y, label="curve", color='red', linestyle='--',
linewidth=2)
plt.legend()
plt.title("Title")
plt.xlabel("X-axis")
plt.ylabel("Y-axis")
plt.grid(True)
plt.savefig("plot.png")
plt.show()
✅ 6. Use Interactive Tools (Jupyter/Colab)
Using Jupyter or Colab lets you test plots instantly and tweak one line at a time.
✅ 7. Do Mini-Projects with Plots
● Plot your model's loss/accuracy over time
● Visualize data before and after training
● Create bar charts comparing model performances