Is there a way to group boxplots in matplotlib?
Assume we have three groups "A", "B", and "C" and for each we want to create a boxplot for both "apples" and "oranges". If a grouping is not possible directly, we can create all six combinations and place them linearly side by side. What would be to simplest way to visualize the groupings? I'm trying to avoid setting the tick labels to something like "A + apples" since my scenario involves much longer names than "A".
How about using colors to differentiate between "apples" and "oranges" and spacing to separate "A", "B" and "C"?
Something like this:
from pylab import plot, show, savefig, xlim, figure, \
hold, ylim, legend, boxplot, setp, axes
# function for setting the colors of the box plots pairs
def setBoxColors(bp):
setp(bp['boxes'][0], color='blue')
setp(bp['caps'][0], color='blue')
setp(bp['caps'][1], color='blue')
setp(bp['whiskers'][0], color='blue')
setp(bp['whiskers'][1], color='blue')
setp(bp['fliers'][0], color='blue')
setp(bp['fliers'][1], color='blue')
setp(bp['medians'][0], color='blue')
setp(bp['boxes'][1], color='red')
setp(bp['caps'][2], color='red')
setp(bp['caps'][3], color='red')
setp(bp['whiskers'][2], color='red')
setp(bp['whiskers'][3], color='red')
setp(bp['fliers'][2], color='red')
setp(bp['fliers'][3], color='red')
setp(bp['medians'][1], color='red')
# Some fake data to plot
A= [[1, 2, 5,], [7, 2]]
B = [[5, 7, 2, 2, 5], [7, 2, 5]]
C = [[3,2,5,7], [6, 7, 3]]
fig = figure()
ax = axes()
hold(True)
# first boxplot pair
bp = boxplot(A, positions = [1, 2], widths = 0.6)
setBoxColors(bp)
# second boxplot pair
bp = boxplot(B, positions = [4, 5], widths = 0.6)
setBoxColors(bp)
# thrid boxplot pair
bp = boxplot(C, positions = [7, 8], widths = 0.6)
setBoxColors(bp)
# set axes limits and labels
xlim(0,9)
ylim(0,9)
ax.set_xticklabels(['A', 'B', 'C'])
ax.set_xticks([1.5, 4.5, 7.5])
# draw temporary red and blue lines and use them to create a legend
hB, = plot([1,1],'b-')
hR, = plot([1,1],'r-')
legend((hB, hR),('Apples', 'Oranges'))
hB.set_visible(False)
hR.set_visible(False)
savefig('boxcompare.png')
show()
Here is my version. It stores data based on categories.
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
data_a = [[1,2,5], [5,7,2,2,5], [7,2,5]]
data_b = [[6,4,2], [1,2,5,3,2], [2,3,5,1]]
ticks = ['A', 'B', 'C']
def set_box_color(bp, color):
plt.setp(bp['boxes'], color=color)
plt.setp(bp['whiskers'], color=color)
plt.setp(bp['caps'], color=color)
plt.setp(bp['medians'], color=color)
plt.figure()
bpl = plt.boxplot(data_a, positions=np.array(xrange(len(data_a)))*2.0-0.4, sym='', widths=0.6)
bpr = plt.boxplot(data_b, positions=np.array(xrange(len(data_b)))*2.0+0.4, sym='', widths=0.6)
set_box_color(bpl, '#D7191C') # colors are from http://colorbrewer2.org/
set_box_color(bpr, '#2C7BB6')
# draw temporary red and blue lines and use them to create a legend
plt.plot([], c='#D7191C', label='Apples')
plt.plot([], c='#2C7BB6', label='Oranges')
plt.legend()
plt.xticks(xrange(0, len(ticks) * 2, 2), ticks)
plt.xlim(-2, len(ticks)*2)
plt.ylim(0, 8)
plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig('boxcompare.png')
I am short of reputation so I cannot post an image to here.
You can run it and see the result. Basically it's very similar to what Molly did.
Note that, depending on the version of python you are using, you may need to replace xrange with range
A simple way would be to use pandas.
I adapted an example from the plotting documentation:
In [1]: import pandas as pd, numpy as np
In [2]: df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.rand(12,2), columns=['Apples', 'Oranges'] )
In [3]: df['Categories'] = pd.Series(list('AAAABBBBCCCC'))
In [4]: pd.options.display.mpl_style = 'default'
In [5]: df.boxplot(by='Categories')
Out[5]:
array([<matplotlib.axes.AxesSubplot object at 0x51a5190>,
<matplotlib.axes.AxesSubplot object at 0x53fddd0>], dtype=object)
Mock data:
df = pd.DataFrame({'Group':['A','A','A','B','C','B','B','C','A','C'],\
'Apple':np.random.rand(10),'Orange':np.random.rand(10)})
df = df[['Group','Apple','Orange']]
Group Apple Orange
0 A 0.465636 0.537723
1 A 0.560537 0.727238
2 A 0.268154 0.648927
3 B 0.722644 0.115550
4 C 0.586346 0.042896
5 B 0.562881 0.369686
6 B 0.395236 0.672477
7 C 0.577949 0.358801
8 A 0.764069 0.642724
9 C 0.731076 0.302369
You can use the Seaborn library for these plots. First melt the dataframe to format data and then create the boxplot of your choice.
import pandas as pd
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns
dd=pd.melt(df,id_vars=['Group'],value_vars=['Apple','Orange'],var_name='fruits')
sns.boxplot(x='Group',y='value',data=dd,hue='fruits')
The accepted answer uses pylab and works for 2 groups. What if we have more?
Here is the flexible generic solution with matplotlib
import matplotlib.pyplot as pl
# there are 4 individuals, each one tested under 3 different settings
# --- Random data, e.g. results per algorithm:
# Invidual 1
d1_1 = [1,1,2,2,3,3]
d1_2 = [3,3,4,4,5,5]
d1_3 = [5,5,6,6,7,7]
# Individual 2
d2_1 = [7,7,8,8,9,9]
d2_2 = [9,9,10,10,11,11]
d2_3 = [11,11,12,12,13,13]
# Individual 3
d3_1 = [1,2,3,4,5,6]
d3_2 = [4,5,6,7,8,9]
d3_3 = [10,11,12,13,14,15]
# Individual 4
d4_1 = [1,1,2,2,3,3]
d4_2 = [9,9,10,10,11,11]
d4_3 = [10,11,12,13,14,15]
# --- Combining your data:
data_group1 = [d1_1, d1_2, d1_3]
data_group2 = [d2_1, d2_2, d2_3]
data_group3 = [d3_1, d3_2, d3_3]
data_group4 = [d4_1, d4_2, d4_3]
colors = ['pink', 'lightblue', 'lightgreen', 'violet']
# we compare the performances of the 4 individuals within the same set of 3 settings
data_groups = [data_group1, data_group2, data_group3, data_group4]
# --- Labels for your data:
labels_list = ['a','b', 'c']
width = 1/len(labels_list)
xlocations = [ x*((1+ len(data_groups))*width) for x in range(len(data_group1)) ]
symbol = 'r+'
ymin = min ( [ val for dg in data_groups for data in dg for val in data ] )
ymax = max ( [ val for dg in data_groups for data in dg for val in data ])
ax = pl.gca()
ax.set_ylim(ymin,ymax)
ax.grid(True, linestyle='dotted')
ax.set_axisbelow(True)
pl.xlabel('X axis label')
pl.ylabel('Y axis label')
pl.title('title')
space = len(data_groups)/2
offset = len(data_groups)/2
# --- Offset the positions per group:
group_positions = []
for num, dg in enumerate(data_groups):
_off = (0 - space + (0.5+num))
print(_off)
group_positions.append([x+_off*(width+0.01) for x in xlocations])
for dg, pos, c in zip(data_groups, group_positions, colors):
boxes = ax.boxplot(dg,
sym=symbol,
labels=['']*len(labels_list),
# labels=labels_list,
positions=pos,
widths=width,
boxprops=dict(facecolor=c),
# capprops=dict(color=c),
# whiskerprops=dict(color=c),
# flierprops=dict(color=c, markeredgecolor=c),
medianprops=dict(color='grey'),
# notch=False,
# vert=True,
# whis=1.5,
# bootstrap=None,
# usermedians=None,
# conf_intervals=None,
patch_artist=True,
)
ax.set_xticks( xlocations )
ax.set_xticklabels( labels_list, rotation=0 )
pl.show()
Just to add to the conversation, I have found a more elegant way to change the color of the box plot by iterating over the dictionary of the object itself
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
def color_box(bp, color):
# Define the elements to color. You can also add medians, fliers and means
elements = ['boxes','caps','whiskers']
# Iterate over each of the elements changing the color
for elem in elements:
[plt.setp(bp[elem][idx], color=color) for idx in xrange(len(bp[elem]))]
return
a = np.random.uniform(0,10,[100,5])
bp = plt.boxplot(a)
color_box(bp, 'red')
Cheers!
Here's a function I wrote that takes Molly's code and some other code I've found on the internet to make slightly fancier grouped boxplots:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
def custom_legend(colors, labels, linestyles=None):
""" Creates a list of matplotlib Patch objects that can be passed to the legend(...) function to create a custom
legend.
:param colors: A list of colors, one for each entry in the legend. You can also include a linestyle, for example: 'k--'
:param labels: A list of labels, one for each entry in the legend.
"""
if linestyles is not None:
assert len(linestyles) == len(colors), "Length of linestyles must match length of colors."
h = list()
for k,(c,l) in enumerate(zip(colors, labels)):
clr = c
ls = 'solid'
if linestyles is not None:
ls = linestyles[k]
patch = patches.Patch(color=clr, label=l, linestyle=ls)
h.append(patch)
return h
def grouped_boxplot(data, group_names=None, subgroup_names=None, ax=None, subgroup_colors=None,
box_width=0.6, box_spacing=1.0):
""" Draws a grouped boxplot. The data should be organized in a hierarchy, where there are multiple
subgroups for each main group.
:param data: A dictionary of length equal to the number of the groups. The key should be the
group name, the value should be a list of arrays. The length of the list should be
equal to the number of subgroups.
:param group_names: (Optional) The group names, should be the same as data.keys(), but can be ordered.
:param subgroup_names: (Optional) Names of the subgroups.
:param subgroup_colors: A list specifying the plot color for each subgroup.
:param ax: (Optional) The axis to plot on.
"""
if group_names is None:
group_names = data.keys()
if ax is None:
ax = plt.gca()
plt.sca(ax)
nsubgroups = np.array([len(v) for v in data.values()])
assert len(np.unique(nsubgroups)) == 1, "Number of subgroups for each property differ!"
nsubgroups = nsubgroups[0]
if subgroup_colors is None:
subgroup_colors = list()
for k in range(nsubgroups):
subgroup_colors.append(np.random.rand(3))
else:
assert len(subgroup_colors) == nsubgroups, "subgroup_colors length must match number of subgroups (%d)" % nsubgroups
def _decorate_box(_bp, _d):
plt.setp(_bp['boxes'], lw=0, color='k')
plt.setp(_bp['whiskers'], lw=3.0, color='k')
# fill in each box with a color
assert len(_bp['boxes']) == nsubgroups
for _k,_box in enumerate(_bp['boxes']):
_boxX = list()
_boxY = list()
for _j in range(5):
_boxX.append(_box.get_xdata()[_j])
_boxY.append(_box.get_ydata()[_j])
_boxCoords = zip(_boxX, _boxY)
_boxPolygon = plt.Polygon(_boxCoords, facecolor=subgroup_colors[_k])
ax.add_patch(_boxPolygon)
# draw a black line for the median
for _k,_med in enumerate(_bp['medians']):
_medianX = list()
_medianY = list()
for _j in range(2):
_medianX.append(_med.get_xdata()[_j])
_medianY.append(_med.get_ydata()[_j])
plt.plot(_medianX, _medianY, 'k', linewidth=3.0)
# draw a black asterisk for the mean
plt.plot([np.mean(_med.get_xdata())], [np.mean(_d[_k])], color='w', marker='*',
markeredgecolor='k', markersize=12)
cpos = 1
label_pos = list()
for k in group_names:
d = data[k]
nsubgroups = len(d)
pos = np.arange(nsubgroups) + cpos
label_pos.append(pos.mean())
bp = plt.boxplot(d, positions=pos, widths=box_width)
_decorate_box(bp, d)
cpos += nsubgroups + box_spacing
plt.xlim(0, cpos-1)
plt.xticks(label_pos, group_names)
if subgroup_names is not None:
leg = custom_legend(subgroup_colors, subgroup_names)
plt.legend(handles=leg)
You can use the function(s) like this:
data = { 'A':[np.random.randn(100), np.random.randn(100) + 5],
'B':[np.random.randn(100)+1, np.random.randn(100) + 9],
'C':[np.random.randn(100)-3, np.random.randn(100) -5]
}
grouped_boxplot(data, group_names=['A', 'B', 'C'], subgroup_names=['Apples', 'Oranges'], subgroup_colors=['#D02D2E', '#D67700'])
plt.show()
Grouped boxplots, towards subtle academic publication styling... (source)
(Left) Python 2.7.12 Matplotlib v1.5.3. (Right) Python 3.7.3. Matplotlib v3.1.0.
Code:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# --- Your data, e.g. results per algorithm:
data1 = [5,5,4,3,3,5]
data2 = [6,6,4,6,8,5]
data3 = [7,8,4,5,8,2]
data4 = [6,9,3,6,8,4]
# --- Combining your data:
data_group1 = [data1, data2]
data_group2 = [data3, data4]
# --- Labels for your data:
labels_list = ['a','b']
xlocations = range(len(data_group1))
width = 0.3
symbol = 'r+'
ymin = 0
ymax = 10
ax = plt.gca()
ax.set_ylim(ymin,ymax)
ax.set_xticklabels( labels_list, rotation=0 )
ax.grid(True, linestyle='dotted')
ax.set_axisbelow(True)
ax.set_xticks(xlocations)
plt.xlabel('X axis label')
plt.ylabel('Y axis label')
plt.title('title')
# --- Offset the positions per group:
positions_group1 = [x-(width+0.01) for x in xlocations]
positions_group2 = xlocations
plt.boxplot(data_group1,
sym=symbol,
labels=['']*len(labels_list),
positions=positions_group1,
widths=width,
# notch=False,
# vert=True,
# whis=1.5,
# bootstrap=None,
# usermedians=None,
# conf_intervals=None,
# patch_artist=False,
)
plt.boxplot(data_group2,
labels=labels_list,
sym=symbol,
positions=positions_group2,
widths=width,
# notch=False,
# vert=True,
# whis=1.5,
# bootstrap=None,
# usermedians=None,
# conf_intervals=None,
# patch_artist=False,
)
plt.savefig('boxplot_grouped.png')
plt.savefig('boxplot_grouped.pdf') # when publishing, use high quality PDFs
#plt.show() # uncomment to show the plot.
I used the code given by Kuzeko and it worked well, but I found that the boxes in each group were being drawn in the reverse order. I changed ...x-_off... to ...x+_off... in the following line (just above the last for loop) which fixes it for me:
group_positions.append([x+_off*(width+0.01) for x in xlocations])
A boxplot above was modified to obtain group boxplots with 3 data types.
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
ord = [[16.9423,
4.0410,
19.1185],
[18.5134,
17.8048,
19.2669],
[18.7286,
18.0576,
19.1717],
[18.8998,
18.8469,
19.0005],
[18.8126,
18.7870,
18.8393],
[18.7770,
18.7511,
18.8022],
[18.7409,
18.7075,
18.7747],
[18.6866,
18.6624,
18.7093
],
[18.6748],
[18.9069,
18.6752,
19.0769],
[19.0012,
18.9783,
19.0202
],
[18.9448,
18.9134,
18.9813],
[19.1242,
18.8256,
19.3185],
[19.2118,
19.1661,
19.2580],
[19.2505,
19.1231,
19.3526]]
seq = [[17.8092,
4.0410,
19.6653],
[18.7266,
18.2556,
19.3739],
[18.6051,
18.0589,
19.0557],
[18.6467,
18.5629,
18.7566],
[18.5307,
18.4999,
18.5684],
[18.4732,
18.4484,
18.4985],
[18.5234,
18.5027,
18.4797,
18.4573],
[18.3987,
18.3636,
18.4544],
[18.3593],
[18.7234,
18.7092,
18.7598],
[18.7438,
18.7224,
18.7677],
[18.7304,
18.7111,
18.6880,
18.6913,
18.6678],
[18.8926,
18.5902,
19.2003],
[19.1059,
19.0835,
19.0601,
19.0373,
19.0147],
[19.1925,
19.0177,
19.2588]]
apd=[[17.0331,
4.0410,
18.5670],
[17.6124,
17.1975,
18.0755],
[17.3956,
17.1572,
17.9140],
[17.8295,
17.6514,
18.1466],
[18.0665,
17.9144,
18.2157],
[18.1518,
18.0382,
18.2722],
[18.1975,
18.0956,
18.2987],
[18.2219,
18.1293,
18.3062],
[18.2870,
18.2215,
18.3513],
[18.3047,
18.2363,
18.3950],
[18.3580,
18.2923,
18.4205],
[18.3830,
18.3250,
18.4381],
[18.4135,
18.3645,
18.4753],
[18.4580,
18.4095,
18.5170],
[18.4900,
18.4430,
18.5435]
]
ticks = [120,
240,
360,
516,
662,
740,
874,
1022,
1081,
1201,
1320,
1451,
1562,
1680,
1863]
def set_box_color(bp, color):
plt.setp(bp['boxes'], color=color)
plt.setp(bp['whiskers'], color=color)
plt.setp(bp['caps'], color=color)
plt.setp(bp['medians'], color=color)
plt.figure()
bpl = plt.boxplot(ord, positions=np.array(range(len(ord)))*3.0-0.3, sym='', widths=0.6)
bpr = plt.boxplot(seq, positions=np.array(range(len(seq)))*3.0+0.3, sym='', widths=0.6)
bpg = plt.boxplot(apd, positions=np.array(range(len(apd)))*3.0+0.9, sym='', widths=0.6)
set_box_color(bpl, '#D7191C') # colors are from http://colorbrewer2.org/
set_box_color(bpr, '#2C7BB6')
set_box_color(bpg, '#99d8c9')
# draw temporary red and blue lines and use them to create a legend
plt.plot([], c='#D7191C', label='ORD')
plt.plot([], c='#2C7BB6', label='SEQ')
plt.plot([], c='#99d8c9', label='APD')
plt.legend()
plt.xticks(range(0, len(ticks) * 3, 3), ticks)
plt.xlim(-2, len(ticks)*3)
plt.ylim(0, 20)
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()
plt.savefig('boxcompare.png')
I have a set of data which I want plotted as a line-graph. For each series, some data is missing (but different for each series). Currently matplotlib does not draw lines which skip missing data: for example
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
xs = range(8)
series1 = [1, 3, 3, None, None, 5, 8, 9]
series2 = [2, None, 5, None, 4, None, 3, 2]
plt.plot(xs, series1, linestyle='-', marker='o')
plt.plot(xs, series2, linestyle='-', marker='o')
plt.show()
results in a plot with gaps in the lines. How can I tell matplotlib to draw lines through the gaps? (I'd rather not have to interpolate the data).
You can mask the NaN values this way:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
xs = np.arange(8)
series1 = np.array([1, 3, 3, None, None, 5, 8, 9]).astype(np.double)
s1mask = np.isfinite(series1)
series2 = np.array([2, None, 5, None, 4, None, 3, 2]).astype(np.double)
s2mask = np.isfinite(series2)
plt.plot(xs[s1mask], series1[s1mask], linestyle='-', marker='o')
plt.plot(xs[s2mask], series2[s2mask], linestyle='-', marker='o')
plt.show()
This leads to
Qouting #Rutger Kassies (link) :
Matplotlib only draws a line between consecutive (valid) data points,
and leaves a gap at NaN values.
A solution if you are using Pandas, :
#pd.Series
s.dropna().plot() #masking (as #Thorsten Kranz suggestion)
#pd.DataFrame
df['a_col_ffill'] = df['a_col'].ffill()
df['b_col_ffill'] = df['b_col'].ffill() # changed from a to b
df[['a_col_ffill','b_col_ffill']].plot()
A solution with pandas:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd
def splitSerToArr(ser):
return [ser.index, ser.as_matrix()]
xs = range(8)
series1 = [1, 3, 3, None, None, 5, 8, 9]
series2 = [2, None, 5, None, 4, None, 3, 2]
s1 = pd.Series(series1, index=xs)
s2 = pd.Series(series2, index=xs)
plt.plot( *splitSerToArr(s1.dropna()), linestyle='-', marker='o')
plt.plot( *splitSerToArr(s2.dropna()), linestyle='-', marker='o')
plt.show()
The splitSerToArr function is very handy, when plotting in Pandas. This is the output:
Without interpolation you'll need to remove the None's from the data. This also means you'll need to remove the X-values corresponding to None's in the series. Here's an (ugly) one liner for doing that:
x1Clean,series1Clean = zip(* filter( lambda x: x[1] is not None , zip(xs,series1) ))
The lambda function returns False for None values, filtering the x,series pairs from the list, it then re-zips the data back into its original form.
For what it may be worth, after some trial and error I would like to add one clarification to Thorsten's solution. Hopefully saving time for users who looked elsewhere after having tried this approach.
I was unable to get success with an identical problem while using
from pyplot import *
and attempting to plot with
plot(abscissa[mask],ordinate[mask])
It seemed it was required to use import matplotlib.pyplot as plt to get the proper NaNs handling, though I cannot say why.
Another solution for pandas DataFrames:
plot = df.plot(style='o-') # draw the lines so they appears in the legend
colors = [line.get_color() for line in plot.lines] # get the colors of the markers
df = df.interpolate(limit_area='inside') # interpolate
lines = plot.plot(df.index, df.values) # add more lines (with a new set of colors)
for color, line in zip(colors, lines):
line.set_color(color) # overwrite the new lines colors with the same colors as the old lines
I had the same problem, but the mask eliminate the point between and the line was cut either way (the pink lines that we see in the picture were the only not NaN data that was consecutive, that´s why the line). Here is the result of masking the data (still with gaps):
xs = df['time'].to_numpy()
series1 = np.array(df['zz'].to_numpy()).astype(np.double)
s1mask = np.isfinite(series1)
fplt.plot(xs[s1mask], series1[s1mask], ax=ax_candle, color='#FF00FF', width = 1, legend='ZZ')
Maybe because I was using finplot (to plot candle chart), so I decided to make the Y-axe points that was missing with the linear formula y2-y1=m(x2-x1) and then formulate the function that generate the Y values between the missing points.
def fillYLine(y):
#Line Formula
fi=0
first = None
next = None
for i in range(0,len(y),1):
ne = not(isnan(y[i]))
next = y[i] if ne else next
if not(next is None):
if not(first is None):
m = (first-next)/(i-fi) #m = y1 - y2 / x1 - x2
cant_points = np.abs(i-fi)-1
if (cant_points)>0:
points = createLine(next,first,i,fi,cant_points)#Create the line with the values of the difference to generate the points x that we need
x = 1
for p in points:
y[fi+x] = p
x = x + 1
first = next
fi = i
next = None
return y
def createLine(y2,y1,x2,x1,cant_points):
m = (y2-y1)/(x2-x1) #Pendiente
points = []
x = x1 + 1#first point to assign
for i in range(0,cant_points,1):
y = ((m*(x2-x))-y2)*-1
points.append(y)
x = x + 1#The values of the line are numeric we don´t use the time to assign them, but we will do it at the same order
return points
Then I use simple call the function to fill the gaps between like y = fillYLine(y), and my finplot was like:
x = df['time'].to_numpy()
y = df['zz'].to_numpy()
y = fillYLine(y)
fplt.plot(x, y, ax=ax_candle, color='#FF00FF', width = 1, legend='ZZ')
You need to think that the data in Y variable is only for the plot, I need the NaN values between in the operations (or remove them from the list), that´s why I created a Y variable from the pandas dataset df['zz'].
Note: I noticed that the data is eliminated in my case because if I don´t mask X (xs) the values slide left in the graph, in this case they become consecutive not NaN values and it draws the consecutive line but shrinked to the left:
fplt.plot(xs, series1[s1mask], ax=ax_candle, color='#FF00FF', width = 1, legend='ZZ') #No xs masking (xs[masking])
This made me think that the reason for some people to work the mask is because they are only plotting that line or there´s no great difference between the non masked and masked data (few gaps, not like my data that have a lot).
Perhaps I missed the point, but I believe Pandas now does this automatically. The example below is a little involved, and requires internet access, but the line for China has lots of gaps in the early years, hence the straight line segments.
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# read data from Maddison project
url = 'http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/maddison-project/data/mpd_2013-01.xlsx'
mpd = pd.read_excel(url, skiprows=2, index_col=0, na_values=[' '])
mpd.columns = map(str.rstrip, mpd.columns)
# select countries
countries = ['England/GB/UK', 'USA', 'Japan', 'China', 'India', 'Argentina']
mpd = mpd[countries].dropna()
mpd = mpd.rename(columns={'England/GB/UK': 'UK'})
mpd = np.log(mpd)/np.log(2) # convert to log2
# plots
ax = mpd.plot(lw=2)
ax.set_title('GDP per person', fontsize=14, loc='left')
ax.set_ylabel('GDP Per Capita (1990 USD, log2 scale)')
ax.legend(loc='upper left', fontsize=10, handlelength=2, labelspacing=0.15)
fig = ax.get_figure()
fig.show()