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Scikit-learn VS Matplotlib

Compare Scikit-learn VS Matplotlib and see what are their differences

Scikit-learn logo Scikit-learn

scikit-learn (formerly scikits.learn) is an open source machine learning library for the Python programming language.

Matplotlib logo Matplotlib

matplotlib is a python 2D plotting library which produces publication quality figures in a variety...
  • Scikit-learn Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-05-06
  • Matplotlib Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-14

Scikit-learn features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Scikit-learn provides a high-level interface for common machine learning algorithms, making it easy for beginners and professionals to implement complex models with minimal coding.
  • Extensive Documentation and Community Support
    The library has comprehensive documentation and a large, active community. This makes it easy to find tutorials, examples, and solutions to common problems.
  • Integration with Other Libraries
    Scikit-learn integrates well with other scientific computing libraries such as NumPy, SciPy, and pandas, allowing for seamless data manipulation and analysis.
  • Variety of Algorithms
    It offers a wide array of machine learning algorithms for tasks such as classification, regression, clustering, and dimensionality reduction.
  • Performance
    Designed with performance in mind, many of the algorithms are optimized and some even support multicore processing.

Possible disadvantages of Scikit-learn

  • Limited Deep Learning Support
    Scikit-learn is primarily focused on traditional machine learning algorithms and does not offer support for deep learning models, unlike libraries like TensorFlow or PyTorch.
  • Not Ideal for Large-Scale Data
    While Scikit-learn performs well for moderate-sized datasets, it may not be the best choice for extremely large datasets or big data applications.
  • Lack of Online Learning Algorithms
    The library has limited support for online learning algorithms, which are useful for scenarios where data arrives in a stream and model needs to be updated incrementally.
  • Less Flexibility in Customization
    It can be less flexible compared to lower-level libraries when highly customized or specific implementations are needed.
  • Dependency Overhead
    Scikit-learn relies on several other Python libraries like NumPy and SciPy, which might require users to manage multiple dependencies.

Matplotlib features and specs

  • Versatility
    Matplotlib can generate a wide variety of plots, ranging from simple line plots to complex 3D plots. This versatility makes it a go-to library for many scientific and technical visualizations.
  • Customization
    It offers extensive customization options for virtually every element of a plot, including colors, labels, line styles, and more, allowing users to tailor plots to meet specific needs.
  • Integrations
    Matplotlib integrates well with other Python libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, and SciPy, making it easier to plot data directly from these sources.
  • Community and Documentation
    It has a large, active community and comprehensive documentation that includes tutorials, examples, and detailed references, which can help users solve problems and improve their plot-making skills.
  • Interactivity
    Matplotlib supports interactive plots, which can be embedded in Jupyter notebooks and GUIs, allowing for dynamic data exploration and presentation.
  • Publication-Quality
    The library is capable of producing high-quality, publication-ready graphics that meet the stringent requirements of academic journals and professional presentations.

Possible disadvantages of Matplotlib

  • Complexity
    While Matplotlib offers extensive customization, it can be complex and sometimes unintuitive for beginners, requiring a steep learning curve to master all its functionality.
  • Performance
    Rendering a large number of plots or handling very large datasets can be slow, making Matplotlib less suitable for real-time data visualization.
  • Modern Aesthetics
    Out-of-the-box plots from Matplotlib can look somewhat dated compared to those from newer plotting libraries like Seaborn or Plotly, requiring additional customization to achieve a modern look.
  • 3D Plots
    Although Matplotlib supports 3D plotting, its capabilities are relatively limited and less sophisticated compared to specialized 3D plotting libraries.
  • Size and Structure
    The package is relatively large and can be slow to import. Its extensive structure can make finding specific functions and understanding the overall architecture challenging.

Scikit-learn videos

Learning Scikit-Learn (AI Adventures)

More videos:

  • Review - Python Machine Learning Review | Learn python for machine learning. Learn Scikit-learn.

Matplotlib videos

Learn Matplotlib in 6 minutes | Matplotlib Python Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Scikit-learn and Matplotlib)
Data Science And Machine Learning
Technical Computing
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100% 100
Data Science Tools
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0% 0
Python Tools
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User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Scikit-learn and Matplotlib

Scikit-learn Reviews

15 data science tools to consider using in 2021
Scikit-learn is an open source machine learning library for Python that's built on the SciPy and NumPy scientific computing libraries, plus Matplotlib for plotting data. It supports both supervised and unsupervised machine learning and includes numerous algorithms and models, called estimators in scikit-learn parlance. Additionally, it provides functionality for model...

Matplotlib Reviews

25 Python Frameworks to Master
Matplotlib is a widely used tool for data visualization in Python. It provides an object-oriented API for embedding plots into applications.
Source: kinsta.com
5 Best Python Libraries For Data Visualization in 2023
You can use this library for multiple purposes such as generating plots, bar charts, histograms, power spectra, stemplots, pie charts, and more. The best thing about Matplotlib is you just have to write a few lines of code and it handles the rest by itself. Metaplotilib focuses on static images for publication along with interactive figures using toolkits like Qt and GTK.
15 data science tools to consider using in 2021
Matplotlib is an open source Python plotting library that's used to read, import and visualize data in analytics applications. Data scientists and other users can create static, animated and interactive data visualizations with Matplotlib, using it in Python scripts, the Python and IPython shells, Jupyter Notebook, web application servers and various GUI toolkits.
Top Python Libraries For Image Processing In 2021
Matplotlib is primarily used for 2D visualizations such as scatter plots, bar graphs, histograms, and many more, but we can also use it for image processing. It is effective to get information out of an image. It doesn’t support all file formats.
Top 8 Python Libraries for Data Visualization
Matplotlib is a data visualization library and 2-D plotting library of Python It was initially released in 2003 and it is the most popular and widely-used plotting library in the Python community. It comes with an interactive environment across multiple platforms. Matplotlib can be used in Python scripts, the Python and IPython shells, the Jupyter notebook, web application...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Matplotlib should be more popular than Scikit-learn. It has been mentiond 107 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Scikit-learn mentions (31)

  • Must-Know 2025 Developer’s Roadmap and Key Programming Trends
    Python’s Growth in Data Work and AI: Python continues to lead because of its easy-to-read style and the huge number of libraries available for tasks from data work to artificial intelligence. Tools like TensorFlow and PyTorch make it a must-have. Whether you’re experienced or just starting, Python’s clear style makes it a good choice for diving into machine learning. Actionable Tip: If you’re new to Python,... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • 🚀 Launching a High-Performance DistilBERT-Based Sentiment Analysis Model for Steam Reviews 🎮🤖
    Scikit-learn (optional): Useful for additional training or evaluation tasks. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Essential Deep Learning Checklist: Best Practices Unveiled
    How to Accomplish: Utilize data splitting tools in libraries like Scikit-learn to partition your dataset. Make sure the split mirrors the real-world distribution of your data to avoid biased evaluations. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • How to Build a Logistic Regression Model: A Spam-filter Tutorial
    Online Courses: Coursera: "Machine Learning" by Andrew Ng EdX: "Introduction to Machine Learning" by MIT Tutorials: Scikit-learn documentation: https://scikit-learn.org/ Kaggle Learn: https://www.kaggle.com/learn Books: "Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn, Keras & TensorFlow" by Aurélien Géron "The Elements of Statistical Learning" by Trevor Hastie, Robert Tibshirani, and Jerome Friedman By... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Link Prediction With node2vec in Physics Collaboration Network
    Firstly, we need a connection to Memgraph so we can get edges, split them into two parts (train set and test set). For edge splitting, we will use scikit-learn. In order to make a connection towards Memgraph, we will use gqlalchemy. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
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Matplotlib mentions (107)

  • Python for Data Visualization: Best Tools and Practices
    Matplotlib is the backbone of Python data visualization. It’s a flexible, reliable library for creating static plots. Whether you're making simple bar charts or complex graphs, Matplotlib allows extensive customization. You can adjust nearly every aspect of a plot to suit your needs. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Build a Competitive Intelligence Tool Powered by AI
    Add data visualization to make it actionable for your business using pandas.pydata.org and matplotlib.org. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Data Visualisation Basics
    Matplotlib: a versatile library for visualizations, but it can take some code effort to put together common visualizations. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Creating a CSV to Graph Generator App Using ToolJet and Python Libraries
    In this tutorial, we'll create a CSV to Graph Generator app using ToolJet and Python code. This app enables users to upload a CSV file and generate various types of graphs, including line, scatter, bar, histogram, and box plots. Since ToolJet supports Python (and JavaScript) code out of the box, we'll incorporate Python code and the matplotlib library to handle the graph generation. Additionally, we'll use... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Something is strange with CrowdStrike timeline
    It looks like matplotlib to me: https://matplotlib.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Scikit-learn and Matplotlib, you can also consider the following products

Pandas - Pandas is an open source library providing high-performance, easy-to-use data structures and data analysis tools for the Python.

OpenCV - OpenCV is the world's biggest computer vision library

GnuPlot - Gnuplot is a portable command-line driven interactive data and function plotting utility.

NumPy - NumPy is the fundamental package for scientific computing with Python

Plotly - Low-Code Data Apps

Dataiku - Dataiku is the developer of DSS, the integrated development platform for data professionals to turn raw data into predictions.