matplotlib plotting dates - huge scribble mess

Question

i am attempting to chart some stock info on matplotlib from a csv file

i put data from each column into a list, so date is one list, price is another and so on

when i plot price as a function of time, instead of getting a regular stock chart, it gives me a huge mess of squiggly lines everywhere

ive googled some examples and the solutions are above and beyond what i need and i cannot differentiate which part is just simply plotting date on the x axis

date = ['Jan 24, 2018', 'Jan 23, 2018', 'Jan 23, 2018']
price = [28.14, 29.01, 28.75]
plt.plot(date, price)
plt.show()

the code above is essentially how ive got it

can someone perhaps show me a simple example or link me a good matplotlib tutorial?

briancaffey · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-27 04:38:12Z

1

I noticed that Jan 23, 2018 twice in your date list. Did you mean to plot separate dates? Here is a modified example that seems to work just fine:

date = ['Jan 24, 2018', 'Jan 25, 2018', 'Jan 26, 2018']
price = [28.14, 29.01, 28.75]
plt.plot(date, price)
plt.show()

matplotlib will order the string values in date alphabetically. This is what is causing the values to appear scrambled. It would be a good idea to convert the strings to datetime objects before plotting them.

edited Jan 27, 2018 at 4:38

answered Jan 27, 2018 at 4:24

briancaffey

2,61811 gold badges40 silver badges68 bronze badges

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

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

matplotlib plotting dates - huge scribble mess

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related