Mastering pyecharts Bar Charts: From Basics to Advanced Customizations

1. Introduction to pyecharts

pyecharts renders charts in a web browser and supports many chart types such as line, bar, pie, funnel, map, and polar charts. It requires minimal code and produces aesthetically pleasing graphics.

Two major versions exist: 0.5.x (compatible with Python 2.7 and 3.4+, now discontinued) and 1.x (requires Python 3.6+). This tutorial uses pyecharts 1.7.1.

pip install pyecharts==1.7.1

2. Basic Bar Chart

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday']
l2 = [100,200,300,400,500,400,300]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Basic Bar", l2)
    .set_global_opts(title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Bar‑Basic Example", subtitle="Subtitle"))
)
bar.render_notebook()

3. Adding Axis Names

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday']
l2 = [100,200,300,400,500,400,300]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Basic Bar", l2)
    .set_global_opts(
        title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Bar‑Basic Example"),
        yaxis_opts=opts.AxisOpts(name="Visitors"),
        xaxis_opts=opts.AxisOpts(name="Day"),
    )
)
bar.render_notebook()

4. Multiple Y‑Axes

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday']
l2 = [100,200,300,400,500,400,300]
l3 = [300,400,500,400,300,200,100]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series A", l2)
    .add_yaxis("Series B", l3)
    .set_global_opts(
        title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Bar‑Multiple Series", subtitle="Subtitle"),
        toolbox_opts=opts.BrushOpts(),
    )
)
bar.render_notebook()

5. Adjusting Gap and Color

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday']
l2 = [100,200,300,400,500,400,300]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series", l2, category_gap=0, color='#FFFF00')
    .set_global_opts(title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Bar‑Custom Gap & Color", subtitle="Subtitle"))
)
bar.render_notebook()

6. Horizontal Bar Chart

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday']
l2 = [100,200,300,400,500,400,300]
l3 = [300,400,500,400,300,200,100]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series A", l2)
    .add_yaxis("Series B", l3)
    .reversal_axis()
    .set_series_opts(label_opts=opts.LabelOpts(position="right"))
    .set_global_opts(title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Horizontal Bar Chart"))
)
bar.render_notebook()

7. Mark Lines for Max/Min/Average

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday']
l2 = [100,200,300,400,500,400,300]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series", l2)
    .set_global_opts(title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Mark Line Bar"))
    .set_series_opts(
        label_opts=opts.LabelOpts(is_show=False),
        markline_opts=opts.MarkLineOpts(data=[
            opts.MarkLineItem(type_="min", name="Min"),
            opts.MarkLineItem(type_="max", name="Max"),
            opts.MarkLineItem(type_="average", name="Average"),
        ]),
    )
)
bar.render_notebook()

8. Mark Points for Max/Min/Average

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday']
l2 = [100,200,300,400,500,400,300]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series", l2)
    .set_global_opts(title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Mark Point Bar"))
    .set_series_opts(
        label_opts=opts.LabelOpts(is_show=False),
        markpoint_opts=opts.MarkPointOpts(data=[
            opts.MarkPointItem(type_="min", name="Min"),
            opts.MarkPointItem(type_="max", name="Max"),
            opts.MarkPointItem(type_="average", name="Average"),
        ]),
    )
)
bar.render_notebook()

9. Rotating X‑Axis Labels

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['VeryLongLabel{}'.format(i) for i in range(10)]
l2 = [random.choice(range(10,100,10)) for _ in range(10)]
bar = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series", l2)
    .set_global_opts(
        xaxis_opts=opts.AxisOpts(axislabel_opts=opts.LabelOpts(rotate=-15)),
        title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Bar‑Rotated X‑Labels", subtitle="Handling Long Labels"),
    )
)
bar.render_notebook()

10. Data Zoom (Inside and Slider)

from pyecharts import options as opts
from pyecharts.charts import Bar
l1 = ['{} Day'.format(i) for i in range(1,31)]
l2 = [random.choice(range(100,3100,100)) for _ in range(1,31)]
# Inside zoom
bar_inside = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series", l2)
    .set_global_opts(
        title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Bar with Inside Zoom"),
        datazoom_opts=opts.DataZoomOpts(type_="inside"),
    )
)
bar_inside.render_notebook()
# Slider zoom
bar_slider = (
    Bar()
    .add_xaxis(l1)
    .add_yaxis("Series", l2)
    .set_global_opts(
        title_opts=opts.TitleOpts(title="Bar with Slider Zoom"),
        datazoom_opts=opts.DataZoomOpts(type_="slider"),
    )
)
bar_slider.render_notebook()

This tutorial covered the most common pyecharts bar‑chart forms and hinted at upcoming advanced usage; stay tuned for more.