As indicated, this chapter is connected to the previous one by the virtue of the relationship between matplotlib's architecture and the software library's APIs. While material for various matplotlib APIs is available online and in other books, we strove to view these from a different perspective. Firstly, in sources that cover matplotlib APIs exhaustively, one can be exposed to too many use cases. This can lead to a slight confusion on the part of the reader who is attempting to gain mastery over the subject area (matplotlib). Instead, we aimed for an overview approach that focused on some real-world examples in order to keep the story clear.

Secondly, we wanted to emphasize that there are many advanced users of matplotlib whose sole experience with regard to the library is via its deprecated compatibility layer with MATLAB. We wanted to provide useful material for those who wish to make the leap into the land of matplotlib.

Finally, it almost goes without saying that this chapter's work of the APIs builds upon our efforts in the previous chapter. Having just read about matplotlib's architecture and internals, our study of its APIs and integrations has us with additional insight, giving us a deeper understanding of how it all fits together.

This chapter brings to a close our exploration of the big picture. From here on out, we will engage with very specific advanced topics that are accompanied by in-depth exercises. Our first stop on the next leg of the journey will be event handling and interactive plots.