Even though they are equivalent, I think there is a pretty good argument that the second form import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
is objectively more readable:
- It is generally customary to use
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
and suggested in the matplotlib documentation (see http://matplotlib.org/users/pyplot_tutorial.html etc…) so this will be more familiar to most readers. import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
is shorter but no less clear.import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
gives an unfamiliar reader a hint that pyplot is a module, rather than a function which could be incorrectly assumed from the first form.