Add KDE functionality to hist and hist2d plots聽#33
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I'd like to add KDE (kernel density estimation) functionality for the 1D and 2D histogram plotting functions, hist, hist2d, and maybe hexbin. Users can then optionally add marginal distribution panels with panel_axes.
Currently, the only matplotlib plotting function supporting KDE estimation is violinplot, but the result is often gross -- the "violins" do not smoothly taper to zero-width tails like in seaborn. Instead they abruptly cut off at the distribution minimum/maximum. So, we shouldn't try to use the existing KDE engine -- we should implement a new KDE estimation engine, similar to seaborn, and use it to power hist, hist2d, and violinplot. This may involve writing a new violinplot from scratch.
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[-]Add KDE functionality to histograms, box/violin plots, hexbin-style plots[/-][+]Add KDE functionality to hist and hist2d plots[/+]bugsuse commentedon Apr 19, 2021
It's a very nice feature! I can hardly wait!
Jhsmit commentedon Aug 22, 2021
I made some custom KDE graphs for a publication recently:
These type of graphs are called 'raincloudplots': https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/4-63 (which has a python implementation but is based on seaborn and therefore has the same problems)
The code for the KDE part of the graph is here: https://github.com/Jhsmit/PyHDX-paper/blob/master/biorxiv_v2/functions/rainbows.py
Feel free to use the code in
proplotif you find it useful (although some parts are from joyplot). I'm using scipy's kde function which mostly works fine but especially for the 2D case it can be slow if you have a lot of datapoints.I might want to try to find time to make a PR myself, I'm a big fan of proplot. I've started using it for my last publication and the subplot layout and sizing options in proplot really made my life a lot easier :) (paper / code)
I'll try to provide some feedback to proplot if that helps you.
PS. perhaps you could consider connecting your repository to zenodo such that the project can be cited.
lukelbd commentedon Aug 23, 2021
Thanks for the code! This is a good base for adding KDE functionality -- I probably won't have time to work on this until later this year but happy to accept PRs if you feel inclined/want it sooner. Proplot's source code recently underwent some major improvements so it should be much easier to contribute.
We probably want to add the following:
axes/plot.pythat controls KDE estimation for various plotting functions. Users should be able to pass keyword arguments to the KDE algorithm from the plotting functions.violinplotoption to plot a left- or right-half violin (like in your example), maybe with the argumentside='left'andside='right'(orside='top'orside='bottom'for horizontal violins), withside='both'being the default.violinplotto use your method for KDE estimation rather than matplotlib's method. It would probably simply callfill_betweenorfill_betweenxand then you can add outlines to the violins like you would any other patch. It would still be able to add error bars/boxes using the sharedPlotAxes._apply_barmethod.raincloudplotmethod (with the shorthandraincloud, consistent with other plotting commands) as a thin wrapper that callsboxplot,violinplot, andscatter. It would callboxplotandviolinplotwith reduced defaultwidthsarguments and defaultside='left'orside='top'for the violins.violinplothave no colormap gradations by default, but let users add them by passingcmap='name'toviolinplotorraincloudplot(it should also acceptvminandvmaxarguments, but set the defaultvminandvmaxto the minimum and maximum of all the distributions). To implement colormap gradations,violinplotwill set the facecolor of the patch to'none'(i.e., completely transparent) so that animshowcan be drawn underneath the patch border and "clipped" by the border coordinates, as you've done in your code.kdeplotandkdeplot2dcommands (with shorthandskdeandkde2d, consistent with other functions) that show KDE estimations using lines and contours (respectively). They should be thin wrappers aroundplotandcontour/contourf, similar to howhistandhist2dare thin wrappers aroundbarandpcolor.kde=Truetohistandhist2dand this will draw thekdeandkde2dlines on top of the histograms, analogous to the current ability of passinglinewidth=Ntocontourfand proplot adds an additionalcontourplot on top of the filled contours. KDE-algorithm or KDE-styling keywords could be passed tohistandhist2dwithkde_kw={key: value, ...}, analogous to various other arguments ending in_kw.And glad you find proplot useful :) it's already published on Zenodo but that probably wasn't clear -- there was just a Zenodo badge to the github home page. I've now added a link to the readthedocs homepage.