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DOC: update the pandas.DataFrame.plot.area docstring #20170

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Aug 10, 2018
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DOC: update the pandas.DataFrame.plot.area docstring #20170

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DOC: Improve docstring for pandas.DataFrame.plot.area
DZPM Mar 10, 2018
a0df497
Improved with suggestions
DZPM Aug 1, 2018
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DZPM Aug 8, 2018
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78 changes: 73 additions & 5 deletions pandas/plotting/_core.py
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Expand Up @@ -3337,19 +3337,87 @@ def kde(self, bw_method=None, ind=None, **kwds):

def area(self, x=None, y=None, **kwds):
"""
Area plot
Draw a stacked area plot.

An area plot displays quantitative data visually.
This function wraps the matplotlib area function.

Parameters
----------
x, y : label or position, optional
Coordinates for each point.
`**kwds` : optional
x : label or position, optional
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This should follow the guide: https://python-sprints.github.io/pandas/guide/pandas_docstring.html#section-3-parameters

So it should indicate the type of the parameter in the first line (plus optional), and later the meaning of the parameter.

Coordinates for the X axis. By default uses the index.
y : label or position, optional
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As @dukebody says, for both x and y, in the first line we should have the type, more than a short description. It's a bit tricky, as label can be anything, but I think we're using something like object or int, optional. Then, we can sure clarify that it's the label or the position in the description.

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I kept it consistent with DataFrame.plot, which is the more complete docstring example I could find.

Column to plot. By default uses all columns.
stacked : bool, default True
Area plots are stacked by default. Set to False to create a
unstacked plot.
**kwds : optional
Additional keyword arguments are documented in
:meth:`pandas.DataFrame.plot`.

Returns
-------
axes : :class:`matplotlib.axes.Axes` or numpy.ndarray of them
matplotlib.axes.Axes or numpy.ndarray
Area plot, or array of area plots if subplots is True

See Also
--------
DataFrame.plot : Make plots of DataFrame using matplotlib / pylab.

Examples
--------
Draw an area plot based on basic business metrics:

.. plot::
:context: close-figs

>>> df = pd.DataFrame({
... 'sales': [3, 2, 3, 9, 10, 6],
... 'signups': [5, 5, 6, 12, 14, 13],
... 'visits': [20, 42, 28, 62, 81, 50],
... }, index=pd.date_range(start='2018/01/01', end='2018/07/01',
... freq='M'))
>>> ax = df.plot.area()

Area plots are stacked by default. To produce an unstacked plot,
pass ``stacked=False``:

.. plot::
:context: close-figs

>>> df = pd.DataFrame({
... 'sales': [3, 2, 3, 9, 10, 6],
... 'signups': [5, 5, 6, 12, 14, 13],
... 'visits': [20, 42, 28, 62, 81, 50],
... }, index=pd.date_range(start='2018/01/01', end='2018/07/01',
... freq='M'))
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is the .. plot:: directive resetting the namespace? Otherwise, It'd be good to reuse the DataFrame instead of repeating it in every example.

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Had some issues with the namespace, so I kept it in different places.

Don't have the full environment right now, can't check if it also works the other way.

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Recreating the dataframe each time should not be needed

>>> ax = df.plot.area(stacked=False)

Draw an area plot for each metric:

.. plot::
:context: close-figs

>>> df = pd.DataFrame({
... 'sales': [3, 2, 3, 9, 10, 6],
... 'signups': [5, 5, 6, 12, 14, 13],
... 'visits': [20, 42, 28, 62, 81, 50],
... }, index=pd.date_range(start='2018/01/01', end='2018/07/01',
... freq='M'))
>>> ax = df.plot.area(y='sales')

Draw with a different `x`:

.. plot::
:context: close-figs

>>> df = pd.DataFrame({
... 'sales': [3, 2, 3],
... 'visits': [20, 42, 28],
... 'day': ['Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday'],
... }, index=pd.date_range(start='2018/01/01', end='2018/07/01',
... freq='M'))
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This example is not running (the index is not correct). And also the labels to not show on the actual plot once this is fixed.

>>> ax = df.plot.area(x='day')
"""
return self(kind='area', x=x, y=y, **kwds)

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