Matplotlib vs. Vega-Altair vs. ggplot2 vs. python-sql Comparison Chart

Matplotlib is a comprehensive library for creating static, animated, and interactive visualizations in Python. Matplotlib makes easy things easy and hard things possible. A large number of third party packages extend and build on Matplotlib functionality, including several higher-level plotting interfaces (seaborn, HoloViews, ggplot, ...), and a projection and mapping toolkit (Cartopy).

ggplot2 is a system for declaratively creating graphics, based on The Grammar of Graphics. You provide the data, tell ggplot2 how to map variables to aesthetics, what graphical primitives to use, and it takes care of the details. ggplot2 is now over 10 years old and is used by hundreds of thousands of people to make millions of plots. That means, by-and-large, ggplot2 itself changes relatively little. When we do make changes, they will be generally to add new functions or arguments rather than changing the behavior of existing functions, and if we do make changes to existing behavior we will do them for compelling reasons. If you are new to ggplot2 you are better off starting with a systematic introduction, rather than trying to learn from reading individual documentation pages.