How to plot bar graphs with same X coordinates side by side ('dodged')

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

gridnumber = range(1,4)

b1 = plt.bar(gridnumber, [0.2, 0.3, 0.1], width=0.4,
                label="Bar 1", align="center")

b2 = plt.bar(gridnumber, [0.3, 0.2, 0.2], color="red", width=0.4,
                label="Bar 2", align="center")


plt.ylim([0,0.5])
plt.xlim([0,4])
plt.xticks(gridnumber)
plt.legend()
plt.show()

Currently b1 and b2 overlap each other. How do I plot them separately like so:

Solution 1:

There is an example in the matplotlib site. Basically, you just shift the x values by width. Here is the relevant bit:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

N = 5
menMeans = (20, 35, 30, 35, 27)
menStd =   (2, 3, 4, 1, 2)

ind = np.arange(N)  # the x locations for the groups
width = 0.35       # the width of the bars

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
rects1 = ax.bar(ind, menMeans, width, color='royalblue', yerr=menStd)

womenMeans = (25, 32, 34, 20, 25)
womenStd =   (3, 5, 2, 3, 3)
rects2 = ax.bar(ind+width, womenMeans, width, color='seagreen', yerr=womenStd)

# add some
ax.set_ylabel('Scores')
ax.set_title('Scores by group and gender')
ax.set_xticks(ind + width / 2)
ax.set_xticklabels( ('G1', 'G2', 'G3', 'G4', 'G5') )

ax.legend( (rects1[0], rects2[0]), ('Men', 'Women') )

plt.show()

Solution 2:

Below answer will explain each and every line of code in the simplest manner possible:

# Numbers of pairs of bars you want
N = 3

# Data on X-axis

# Specify the values of blue bars (height)
blue_bar = (23, 25, 17)
# Specify the values of orange bars (height)
orange_bar = (19, 18, 14)

# Position of bars on x-axis
ind = np.arange(N)

# Figure size
plt.figure(figsize=(10,5))

# Width of a bar 
width = 0.3       

# Plotting
plt.bar(ind, blue_bar , width, label='Blue bar label')
plt.bar(ind + width, orange_bar, width, label='Orange bar label')

plt.xlabel('Here goes x-axis label')
plt.ylabel('Here goes y-axis label')
plt.title('Here goes title of the plot')

# xticks()
# First argument - A list of positions at which ticks should be placed
# Second argument -  A list of labels to place at the given locations
plt.xticks(ind + width / 2, ('Xtick1', 'Xtick3', 'Xtick3'))

# Finding the best position for legends and putting it
plt.legend(loc='best')
plt.show()