Vertical and Horizontal Bar Charts

Bar charts are essential for comparing values across categories. Let's master both vertical and horizontal bar charts.

Basic Vertical Bar Chart

Horizontal Bar Chart

Better for long category names or many categories:

Customizing Bar Colors

Use different colors to highlight specific bars:

Bar Width and Spacing

Control the appearance of your bars:

Sorted Bar Charts

Sort bars for easier comparison:

Negative Values

Handle bars that go both directions:

Waterfall Charts

Show cumulative effect of values:

Practice: Create a Performance Bar Chart

Key Takeaways

• Use bar() for vertical bars and barh() for horizontal bars
• Horizontal bars work better for long category names
• Control bar width with the width parameter
• Add value labels using ax.text() positioned relative to bars
• Use color to encode additional information (performance levels, positive/negative)
• Sort bars for easier comparison of values
• Reference lines (axhline, axvline) provide context

In the next lesson, we'll explore grouped and stacked bar charts for comparing multiple series.