Matplotlib Plot a Bar with a Dictionary {x:y}: A Step Guide – Matplotlib Tutorial

In python, we often save some data with a dictionary, which is very good to save data what contains label:number. In this tutorial, we will introduce you how to plot a bar chart with this dictionary using python matplotlib.

Step 1: import libraries

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Step 2: create a python dictionary with label:number

For example:

data = {"0-1s":5, "1-2s":5, "2-3s":2, "3-4s":5, "4-5s":2}

Here the keys of data are label and the values are number.

Step 3: plot a bar char

names = list(data.keys())
values = list(data.values())

plt.bar(range(len(data)), values, tick_label=names, label = "Number")
plt.legend()
plt.show()

Run this code,we will see:

Step 4: if you want to order dictionary with number, then plot a bar char, you can read:

Sort Python Dictionary by Key or Value for Beginners – Python Tips

Step 4: if you want to change the color of bar, you do as follows:

plt.bar(range(len(data)), values, tick_label=names, label = "Number", color='deepskyblue')
plt.legend()
plt.show()

Then we will see:

If you want to know what colors you can select, you can read:

List of Matplotlib Common Used Colors – Matplotlib Tutorial