Summary

Gnuplot in Action, Second Edition is a major revision of this popular and authoritative guide for developers, engineers, and scientists who want to learn and use gnuplot effectively. Fully updated for gnuplot version 5, the book includes four pages of color illustrations and four bonus appendixes available in the eBook.

Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

About the Technology

Gnuplot is an open-source graphics program that helps you analyze, interpret, and present numerical data. Available for Unix, Mac, and Windows, it is well-maintained, mature, and totally free.

About the Book

Gnuplot in Action, Second Edition is a major revision of this authoritative guide for developers, engineers, and scientists. The book starts with a tutorial introduction, followed by a systematic overview of gnuplot's core features and full coverage of gnuplot's advanced capabilities. Experienced readers will appreciate the discussion of gnuplot 5's features, including new plot types, improved text and color handling, and support for interactive, web-based display formats. The book concludes with chapters on graphical effects and general techniques for understanding data with graphs. It includes four pages of color illustrations. 3D graphics, false-color plots, heatmaps, and multivariate visualizations are covered in chapter-length appendixes available in the eBook.

What's Inside

• Creating different types of graphs in detail


• Animations, scripting, batch operations


• Extensive discussion of terminals

Updated to cover gnuplot version 5

About the Reader

No prior experience with gnuplot is required. This book concentrates on practical applications of gnuplot relevant to users of all levels.

About the Author

Philipp K. Janert, PhD, is a programmer and scientist. He is the author of several books on data analysis and applied math and has been a gnuplot power user and developer for over 20 years.

Table of Contents

1. PART 1 GETTING STARTED


2. Prelude: understanding data with gnuplot


3. Tutorial: essential gnuplot


4. The heart of the matter: the plot command


5. PART 2 CREATING GRAPHS


6. Managing data sets and files


7. Practical matters: strings, loops, and history


8. A catalog of styles


9. Decorations: labels, arrows, and explanations


10. All about axes


11. PART 3 MASTERING TECHNICALITIES


12. Color, style, and appearance


13. Terminals and output formats


14. Automation, scripting, and animation


15. Beyond the defaults: workflow and styles


16. PART 4 UNDERSTANDING DATA


17. Basic techniques of graphical analysis


18. Topics in graphical analysis


19. Coda: understanding data with graphs