Adding a data table to the figure

Although matplotlib is mainly a plotting library, it helps us with small errands when we are creating a chart, such as having a neat data table beside our beautiful chart. In this recipe we will be learning how to display a data table alongside the plots in the figure.

Getting ready

It is important to understand why we are adding a table to a chart. The main intention of plotting data visually is to explain the otherwise not understandable (or hardly understandable) data values. Now, we want to add that data back. It is not wise just to cram a big table with values underneath the chart.

But, carefully picked, maybe the summed or highlighted values from the whole, charted dataset can identify important parts of the chart or emphasize the important values for those places where the exact value (for example, yearly sales in USD) is important (or even required).

How to do it...

Here's the code to add a sample table to our figure:

import matplotlib.pylab as plt
import...