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pylab — legacy MATLAB-style namespace

Version: ships with matplotlib (no own version)
Type: Pure Python (single file)
SPM target: Bundled in the Python framework (single pylab.py at site-packages root)
Auto-included by: matplotlib (historical convenience shim)
Total Python modules: 1

A six-line module that re-exports everything from numpy and matplotlib.pyplot into a single flat namespace, mimicking MATLAB's "function-name = call" style. Bundled for backward compatibility with old scripts and Jupyter notebooks that start with from pylab import *.

Modern code uses explicit import matplotlib.pyplot as plt; import numpy as np instead. pylab exists only because so much pedagogical material (Hunter & VanderPlas era tutorials, early SciPy lecture notes) still leads with it.

Modules

Module What it does
pylab (single file) from matplotlib.pyplot import * + import numpy as np + from numpy import *. Nothing else.

iOS-specific notes

  • Inherits whatever pyplot does. plot(), figure(), show() go through matplotlib's backend, which on iOS routes to the WebKit-based Plotly preview pane. See matplotlib.md for backend details.
  • Namespace pollution. from pylab import * dumps ~600 names into your namespace and shadows builtins (sum, min, max, any, all, abs, round) with NumPy versions. Convenient for quick exploration; bad for libraries.
  • No iOS-specific patches. The file is six lines unchanged from upstream.

Standalone example

import pylab

pylab.plot([1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6])
pylab.title("hello")
pylab.show()
# (renders via matplotlib's Plotly-backend shim → in-app preview pane)

Or the MATLAB-style "everything in one namespace" form:

from pylab import *

t = linspace(0, 2 * pi, 200)
plot(t, sin(t), label="sin")
plot(t, cos(t), label="cos")
legend()
show()

See also

  • docs/matplotlib.md — the actual plotting library; what pyplot and the iOS preview backend belong to
  • docs/numpy.md — the numerical-array core that gets star-imported alongside pyplot
  • docs/small-utils.md — index of other rarely-imported transitive deps