[Tut] [Fixed] Matplotlib: TypeError: ‘AxesSubplot’ object is not subscriptable

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[Fixed] Matplotlib: TypeError: ‘AxesSubplot’ object is not subscriptable

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Problem Formulation

Say, you’re me five minutes ago, and you want to create a Matplotlib plot using the following (genius) code snippet:

Code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt fig, axes = plt.subplots() axes[0, 0].plot([1, 2, 3], [9, 8, 7]) plt.show()

If you run this code, instead of the desired plot, you get the following

Code:

TypeError: 'AxesSubplot' object is not subscriptable

:

Code:

Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\xcent\Desktop\code.py", line 4, in <module> axes[0, 0].plot([1, 2, 3], [5, 5, 5]) TypeError: 'AxesSubplot' object is not subscriptable

Question: How to resolve the

Code:

TypeError: 'AxesSubplot' object is not subscriptable

in your Python script?

Don’t panic! The solution is easier than you think…

Fix Not Subscriptable TypeError on ‘AxesSubplot’ Object

Generally, Python raises the

Code:

TypeError XXX object is not subscriptable

if you use indexing with the square bracket notation on an object that is not indexable. In this case, you tried to index an

Code:

Axes

object because you thought it was an array of

Code:

Axes

objects.

Let’s go over the code to understand why the error happened!

First, you assign the result of the

Code:

plt.subplots()

function to the two variables

Code:

fig

and

Code:

axes

.

Code:

fig, axes = plt.subplots()

If you don’t pass an argument in the

Code:

plt.subplots()

function, it creates a

Code:

Figure

with one

Code:

Axes

object.

So if you try to subscript using

Code:

axes[0,0]

,

Code:

axes[0]

, or any other indexing scheme, Python will raise an error. It’s simple:

Code:

axes

doesn’t hold a container type so it cannot be indexed using the square bracket notation!

So to fix the

Code:

TypeError: 'AxesSubplot' object is not subscriptable

, simply remove the indexing notation on the axes object obtained by

Code:

plt.subplots()

called without arguments.

Code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt fig, axes = plt.subplots() axes.plot([1, 2, 3], [9, 8, 7]) # not: axes[0, 0] plt.show()

Now it works — here’s the output:



What is the Reason for the Error?

However, this error is tough to spot because if you pass any other argument into the

Code:

plt.subplot()

function, it creates a

Code:

Figure

and a Numpy array of

Code:

Subplot

/

Code:

Axes

objects which you store in

Code:

fig

and

Code:

axes

respectively.

For example, this creates a non-subscriptable axes because you don’t pass any argument:

Code:

fig, axes = plt.subplots()

For example, this creates a subscriptable array of axes that is a one-dimensional array of subplots because you pass an argument:

Code:

fig, axes = plt.subplots(3)

For example, this creates a subscriptable array of axes that is a two-dimensional array of subplots because you passed two arguments

Code:

fig, axes = plt.subplots(3, 2)

No wonder did you think that you can call

Code:

axes[0,0]

or

Code:

axes[0]

on the return value of the

Code:

plt.subplot()

function! However, doing so is only possible if you didn’t pass an argument into it.

Make sure you never run into similar errors by spending a couple of minutes understanding the

Code:

plt.subplot()

function once and for all!

Learn More about plt.subplot()

To further understand the

Code:

subplots()

function, check out our detailed guide on the Finxter blog and the following video:



Full Tutorial: Matplotlib Subplots – A Helpful Illustrated Guide