Box Plot Examples

This example demonstrates box plot functionality in PubliPlots, including simple box plots, grouped box plots, and combined box+swarm plots.

Examples

import publiplots as pp
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Set style
pp.set_notebook_style()

Simple Box Plot

Basic box plot showing distribution by category.

# Create sample data
np.random.seed(42)
n = 200
box_data = pd.DataFrame({
    'category': np.repeat(['A', 'B', 'C', 'D'], n // 4),
    'value': np.concatenate([
        np.random.normal(10, 2, n // 4),
        np.random.normal(15, 3, n // 4),
        np.random.normal(12, 2.5, n // 4),
        np.random.normal(18, 4, n // 4)
    ])
})

# Create simple box plot
fig, ax = pp.boxplot(
    data=box_data,
    x='category',
    y='value',
    title='Simple Box Plot',
    xlabel='Category',
    ylabel='Value',
)
plt.show()

Box Plot with Hue Grouping

Use the hue parameter to create grouped box plots.

# Add group variable
box_data['group'] = np.tile(['Group 1', 'Group 2'], n // 2)

# Create grouped box plot
fig, ax = pp.boxplot(
    data=box_data,
    x='category',
    y='value',
    hue='group',
    gap=0.1,
    title='Grouped Box Plot',
    xlabel='Category',
    ylabel='Value',
    palette={'Group 1': '#8E8EC1', 'Group 2': '#75B375'},
)
plt.show()

Horizontal Box Plot

Create horizontal box plots by swapping x and y.

fig, ax = pp.boxplot(
    data=box_data[box_data['group'] == 'Group 1'],
    x='value',
    y='category',
    title='Horizontal Box Plot',
    xlabel='Value',
    ylabel='Category',
)
plt.show()

Combined Box and Swarm Plot

Overlay swarm plot on box plot to show both summary statistics and individual data points.

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(6, 5))

# First, create the box plot
pp.boxplot(
    data=box_data[box_data['group'] == 'Group 1'],
    x='category',
    y='value',
    ax=ax,
    showfliers=False,
)

# Then overlay the swarm plot
pp.swarmplot(
    data=box_data[box_data['group'] == 'Group 1'],
    x='category',
    y='value',
    ax=ax,
    alpha=1,
    legend=False,
)

ax.set_title('Combined Box and Swarm Plot')
ax.set_xlabel('Category')
ax.set_ylabel('Value')
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Customization

Box Plot with Custom Alpha

Adjust transparency of box fill.

fig, ax = pp.boxplot(
    data=box_data,
    x='category',
    y='value',
    hue='group',
    gap=0.1,
    title='Box Plot with Custom Alpha',
    xlabel='Category',
    ylabel='Value',
    alpha=0.3,
)
plt.show()

Box Plot Without Outliers

Hide outliers when you plan to overlay with swarm plot.

fig, ax = pp.boxplot(
    data=box_data,
    x='category',
    y='value',
    showfliers=False,
    title='Box Plot Without Outliers',
    xlabel='Category',
    ylabel='Value',
)
plt.show()