matplotlib: can I create AxesSubplot objects, then add them to a Figure instance?

Question

Looking at the matplotlib documentation, it seems the standard way to add an AxesSubplot to a Figure is to use Figure.add_subplo

Answer 1

Typically, you just pass the axes instance to a function.

For example:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

def main():
    x = np.linspace(0, 6 * np.pi, 100)

    fig1, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(nrows=2)
    plot(x, np.sin(x), ax1)
    plot(x, np.random.random(100), ax2)

    fig2 = plt.figure()
    plot(x, np.cos(x))

    plt.show()

def plot(x, y, ax=None):
    if ax is None:
        ax = plt.gca()
    line, = ax.plot(x, y, 'go')
    ax.set_ylabel('Yabba dabba do!')
    return line

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

To respond to your question, you could always do something like this:

def subplot(data, fig=None, index=111):
    if fig is None:
        fig = plt.figure()
    ax = fig.add_subplot(index)
    ax.plot(data)

Also, you can simply add an axes instance to another figure:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

fig1, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(range(10))

fig2 = plt.figure()
fig2.axes.append(ax)

plt.show()

Resizing it to match other subplot "shapes" is also possible, but it's going to quickly become more trouble than it's worth. The approach of just passing around a figure or axes instance (or list of instances) is much simpler for complex cases, in my experience...