Book Image

The Python Workshop

By : Olivier Pons, Andrew Bird, Dr. Lau Cher Han, Mario Corchero Jiménez, Graham Lee, Corey Wade
Book Image

The Python Workshop

By: Olivier Pons, Andrew Bird, Dr. Lau Cher Han, Mario Corchero Jiménez, Graham Lee, Corey Wade

Overview of this book

Have you always wanted to learn Python, but never quite known how to start? More applications than we realize are being developed using Python because it is easy to learn, read, and write. You can now start learning the language quickly and effectively with the help of this interactive tutorial. The Python Workshop starts by showing you how to correctly apply Python syntax to write simple programs, and how to use appropriate Python structures to store and retrieve data. You'll see how to handle files, deal with errors, and use classes and methods to write concise, reusable, and efficient code. As you advance, you'll understand how to use the standard library, debug code to troubleshoot problems, and write unit tests to validate application behavior. You'll gain insights into using the pandas and NumPy libraries for analyzing data, and the graphical libraries of Matplotlib and Seaborn to create impactful data visualizations. By focusing on entry-level data science, you'll build your practical Python skills in a way that mirrors real-world development. Finally, you'll discover the key steps in building and using simple machine learning algorithms. By the end of this Python book, you'll have the knowledge, skills and confidence to creatively tackle your own ambitious projects with Python.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

Plotting Techniques

Unlike machines, humans are terrible at understanding data without graphics. Various visualization techniques have been invented to make humans understand different datasets. There are various types of graphs that you can plot, each with its own strengths and weakness.

Each type of chart is only suitable for a certain scenario, and they shouldn't be mixed up. For instance, to present dropped-out customer details for marketing scatter plots is a good example. A scatter plot is suitable for visualizing a categorical dataset with numeric values, and you will be exploring this further in the following exercise.

For the best presentation of your data, you should choose the right graph for the right data. In the following exercises, you will be introduced to various graph types and their suitability for different scenarios. You will also demonstrate how to avoid plotting misleading charts.

You will plot each of these graphs in the following exercises and...