matplotlib - How to make two plots side-by-side using Python?

Question

I found the following example on matplotlib:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt


x1 = np.linspace(0.0, 5.0)
x2 = np.linspace(0.0, 2.0)

y1 = np.cos(2 * np.pi * x1) * np.exp(-x1)
y2 = np.cos(2 * np.pi * x2)

plt.subplot(2, 1, 1)
plt.plot(x1, y1, 'ko-')
plt.title('A tale of 2 subplots')
plt.ylabel('Damped oscillation')


plt.subplot(2, 1, 2)
plt.plot(x2, y2, 'r.-')
plt.xlabel('time (s)')
plt.ylabel('Undamped')

plt.show()

My question is: What do i need to change, to have the plots side-by-side?

Answer 1

Change your subplot settings to:

plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)

...

plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)

The parameters for subplot are: number of rows, number of columns, and which subplot you're currently on. So 1, 2, 1 means "a 1-row, 2-column figure: go to the first subplot." Then 1, 2, 2 means "a 1-row, 2-column figure: go to the second subplot."

You currently are asking for a 2-row, 1-column (that is, one atop the other) layout. You need to ask for a 1-row, 2-column layout instead. When you do, the result will be:

In order to minimize the overlap of subplots, you might want to kick in a:

plt.tight_layout()

before the show. Yielding: