Perhaps the simplest network layout, the circular layout, places the nodes of a network evenly around a circle. The benefits of this layout include the following points:
- Highlighting local structure
- Clearly showing each individual edge
Because the circular layout places all nodes around the outside of a circle, it leaves much space unused, and is best-suited for small networks.
Similarly, the center of the circle provides an excellent space to visualize edges, as long as the network is sparse enough to prevent crowding the available space.
NetworkX provides a circular layout through the circular_layout() function. As with all NetworkX layouts, it creates a dictionary that maps node labels to (x, y) tuples, which can then be passed as the pos argument to any of the drawing functions.
Applying the default circular layout to the Zachary karate club network creates...