Matplotlib Bars

Creating Bars

With Pyplot, you can use the bar() function to draw bar graphs:

Example

Draw 4 bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x,y)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

The bar() function takes arguments that describes the layout of the bars.

The categories and their values represented by the first and second argument as arrays.

Example

x = ["APPLES", "BANANAS"]
y = [400, 350]
plt.bar(x, y)

Try it Yourself »

Horizontal Bars

If you want the bars to be displayed horizontally instead of vertically, use the barh() function:

Example

Draw 4 horizontal bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.barh(x, y)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Bar Color

The bar() and barh() take the keyword argument color to set the color of the bars:

Example

Draw 4 red bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, color = "red")
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Color Names

You can use any of the 140 supported color names.

Example

Draw 4 "hot pink" bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, color = "hotpink")
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Color Hex

Or you can use Hexadecimal color values:

Example

Draw 4 bars with a beautiful green color:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, color = "#4CAF50")
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

Bar Width

The bar() takes the keyword argument width to set the width of the bars:

Example

Draw 4 very thin bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.bar(x, y, width = 0.1)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

The default width value is 0.8

Note: For horizontal bars, use height instead of width.

Bar Height

The barh() takes the keyword argument height to set the height of the bars:

Example

Draw 4 very thin bars:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.array(["A", "B", "C", "D"])
y = np.array([3, 8, 1, 10])

plt.barh(x, y, height = 0.1)
plt.show()

Result:

Try it Yourself »

The default height value is 0.8

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