# Example of how to plot a function using Python and matplotlib (aka pylab)
# by Dan Schroeder, January 2013

# To run this program you need a Python installation that includes numpy and matplotlib.
# I recommend the EPD free distribution from Enthought, www.enthought.com.

# First we need to import packages for numerical arrays and plotting:
import numpy, pylab
# (Technically, pylab includes numpy so you could replace "numpy" with "pylab" in the
# two lines below and omit "numpy" from the import.  And if you get tired of the "pylab."
# prefixes, you can say "from pylab import *" and then just omit them.  But I prefer
# to be explicit about which functions belong to which packages.)

# Now we create the data lists to plot:
x = numpy.linspace(-3, 3, 500)		# Create an array of x values (min, max, number of points)
y = numpy.exp(-x**2)				# Use numpy.exp (not math.exp) since it works on arrays
# If your function doesn't know how to work element-wise on arrays, then you can use a
# for loop to assign the y values one by one:
# y = []
# for thisx in x:
# 	y.append(math.exp(-thisx**2))

# Now for the plotting stuff:
pylab.plot(x, y, linewidth=2, color='red')	# Make the plot (with some optional options)

# More optional options (for many others see matplotlib.org/api/pyplot_summary.html):
pylab.ylim(0, 1.1)							# manually set limits to add space above graph
pylab.grid()								# add a grid
pylab.title('Gaussian Bell Curve', size='x-large')	# put a title at the top
pylab.xlabel('$x$', size='x-large')			# label the x axis using $$ for font to match y axis label
pylab.ylabel('$e^{-x^2}$', size='x-large')	# label the y axis using TeX syntax for formula

pylab.show()								# show it! (not optional)