How to generate random colors in matplotlib?

Question

What\'s the trivial example of how to generate random colors for passing to plotting functions?

I\'m calling scatter inside a loop and want each plot a different col

Answer 1

If you want to ensure the colours are distinct - but don't know how many colours are needed. Try something like this. It selects colours from opposite sides of the spectrum and systematically increases granularity.

import math

def calc(val, max = 16):
    if val < 1:
        return 0
    if val == 1:
        return max

    l = math.floor(math.log2(val-1))    #level 
    d = max/2**(l+1)                    #devision
    n = val-2**l                        #node
    return d*(2*n-1)

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

N = 16
cmap = cmap = plt.cm.get_cmap('gist_rainbow', N)

fig, axs = plt.subplots(2)
for ax in axs:
    ax.set_xlim([ 0, N])
    ax.set_ylim([-0.5, 0.5])
    ax.set_yticks([])

for i in range(0,N+1):
    v = int(calc(i, max = N))
    rect0 = plt.Rectangle((i, -0.5), 1, 1, facecolor=cmap(i))
    rect1 = plt.Rectangle((i, -0.5), 1, 1, facecolor=cmap(v))
    axs[0].add_artist(rect0)
    axs[1].add_artist(rect1)

plt.xticks(range(0, N), [int(calc(i, N)) for i in range(0, N)])
plt.show()

output

Thanks to @Ali for providing the base implementation.