Compare plots of $y=x^3$ for $-10 \le x \le 10$ using a logarithmic scale on the $x$-axis, $y$-axis, and both axes. What is the difference between using ax.set_xscale('log') and ax.set_xscale('symlog')?
Solution Q7.4.1
The code below produces the six required plots.
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
x = np.linspace(-10, 10, 1000)
y = x**3
fig = plt.figure()
def do_plot(ax_no, axes, scale_type):
ax = fig.add_subplot(3, 2, ax_no)
ax.set_title("({})".format(chr(96 + ax_no)))
ax.plot(x, y)
for axis in axes:
if axis == "x":
ax.set_xscale(scale_type)
else:
ax.set_yscale(scale_type)
if scale_type == "log":
ax.set_yticks([1e-4, 1e-2, 0, 10, 1000])
ax.set_ylim(1e-4, 1000)
if scale_type == "symlog":
ax.set_yticks([-1000, -10, 0, 10, 1000])
do_plot(1, ("x",), "log")
do_plot(2, ("x",), "symlog")
do_plot(3, ("y",), "log")
do_plot(4, ("y",), "symlog")
do_plot(5, ("x", "y"), "log")
do_plot(6, ("x", "y"), "symlog")
fig.tight_layout()
plt.show()
