Creating Line Plots

Line plots are one of the most common visualization types, perfect for showing trends over time or continuous data. Let's master the art of creating effective line plots.

Basic Line Plot

Multiple Lines

Compare multiple data series on the same plot:

Line Styles and Markers

Customize your lines for clarity and aesthetics:

Fill Between Lines

Add area fills to emphasize ranges or differences:

Highlighting Sections

Emphasize specific regions in your data:

Dual Y-Axes

When you need to show two different scales:

Smoothing Data

Reduce noise in your line plots:

Practice: Create a Stock Price Chart

Key Takeaways

• Line plots are ideal for showing trends and changes over time
• Use different line styles (-, --, :, -.) and markers to distinguish multiple lines
• fill_between() adds area fills for emphasis
• axhline() and axvline() add reference lines
• axvspan() and axhspan() highlight regions
• twinx() creates dual y-axes for different scales
• Smoothing techniques like moving averages reduce noise

In the next lesson, we'll explore scatter plots for visualizing relationships and correlations.