Plot a histogram sort by values in Python

Question

I have a Pandas dataframe as following:

              number
Art           10000
Comics        235
Crafts        293
Dance         824

How can I plot a histogram that sort by values?

Demonstration:

*
* *
* *
* *
* *
* * * *
* * * *
-------------
x labels = Art/ Dance/ Crafts/ Comics

I have tried pandas.DataFrame.hist, but not sure how to select proper arguments.

What you trying to plot is not a histogram by definition. It's a simple bar chart. — Klaus D.
– Klaus D., Commented May 16, 2018 at 4:47
you should use pandas.DataFrame.plot.bar : pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/generated/…` — Dadep
– Dadep, Commented May 16, 2018 at 5:04

Simon · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-16 05:17:09Z

1

You can just sort your dataframe first and then create the plot using your dataframes plot method

Test data (I set category as the index as thats what it looks like you have for your actual data):

import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame({'category': ['Art', 'Comics', 'Crafts', 'Dance'],
                   'number': [10000, 235, 293, 824]})
df.set_index('category', inplace=True)

          number
category        
Art        10000
Comics       235
Crafts       293
Dance        824

Then sort by number using df.sort_values() and call df.plot():

df.sort_values('number', inplace=True)

df.plot(y='number', kind='bar', legend=False)

edited May 16, 2018 at 5:17

answered May 16, 2018 at 5:06

Simon

10.2k16 gold badges69 silver badges123 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

sealpuppy Over a year ago

Thank you. That works. But I am just wondering why you're plot has multiple colors by default while my plot has only single color?

Simon Over a year ago

hmm not sure why default colour behaviour is different, I think it might be version specific (see: stackoverflow.com/questions/45967310/…)

Simon Over a year ago

If you want, you can pass in a list of colours to manually control the colour for each bar: stackoverflow.com/questions/18897261/…

Kusal Hettiarachchi Over a year ago

the chart in the answer is a bar chart and it is not necessarily a histogram.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Plot a histogram sort by values in Python

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related