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Python Introduction to Data Visualization with Matplotlib Chart Toppers Scatter Plot

Jonathan Grieve
MOD
Jonathan Grieve
Treehouse Moderator 91,253 Points

TypeError: The Scatter Chart is not being generated

I'm trying to generate the scatter chart as shown in the video but my cell keeps generating a TypeError in Jupyter. I can't what's gone wrong. Line 17 should allow me to use the list in this way shouldn't it?

from itertools import groupby

import csv
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

input_file = 'iris.csv'

with open(input_file, 'r') as iris_data:
    irises = list(csv.reader(iris_data))

colors = {"Iris-setosa": "#2B5B84", "Iris-versicolor": "g", "Iris-virginica": "purple"}

irises.pop()

for species, group in groupby(irises, lambda i: i[4]):
    categorised_irises = list(group)
    sepal_lengths = [float(irises[0]) for iris in categorised_irises]
    sepal_widths = [float(irises[1]) for iris in categorised_irises]
    plt.scatter(sepal_lengths, sepal_widths, s=10, c=colors[species], label=species)

plt.title('Fisher\'s Iris Data Set', fontsize=12)
plt.xlabel('sepal length (cm)', fontsize=10)
plt.ylabel('sepal width (cm)', fontsize=10)
plt.legend(loc='upper right')

plt.show()
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-8-773bcecd5933> in <module>()
     15 for species, group in groupby(irises, lambda i: i[4]):
     16     categorised_irises = list(group)
---> 17     sepal_lengths = [float(irises[0]) for iris in categorised_irises]
     18     sepal_widths = [float(irises[1]) for iris in categorised_irises]
     19 plt.scatter(sepal_lengths, sepal_widths, s=10, c=colors[species], label=species)

<ipython-input-8-773bcecd5933> in <listcomp>(.0)
     15 for species, group in groupby(irises, lambda i: i[4]):
     16     categorised_irises = list(group)
---> 17     sepal_lengths = [float(irises[0]) for iris in categorised_irises]
     18     sepal_widths = [float(irises[1]) for iris in categorised_irises]
     19 plt.scatter(sepal_lengths, sepal_widths, s=10, c=colors[species], label=species)

TypeError: float() argument must be a string or a number, not 'list'

1 Answer

Jennifer Nordell
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there, Jonathan Grieve! It seems like you have a typo. The variable irises is a list which contains other lists. The variable you're looking for is iris.

You wrote:

sepal_lengths = [float(irises[0]) for iris in categorised_irises]

But I believe that should be:

sepal_lengths = [float(iris[0]) for iris in categorised_irises]

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

Jonathan Grieve
Jonathan Grieve
Treehouse Moderator 91,253 Points

Thanks for your help with this. It's truly amazing what I don't see sometimes when I'm coding! :)

Hi Jennifer, if you have any clues as to my similar but different ValueError, they would be gladly appreciated!