load csv into 2D matrix with numpy for plotting

Pure numpy

numpy.loadtxt(open("test.csv", "rb"), delimiter=",", skiprows=1)

Check out the loadtxt documentation.

You can also use python’s csv module:

import csv
import numpy
reader = csv.reader(open("test.csv", "rb"), delimiter=",")
x = list(reader)
result = numpy.array(x).astype("float")

You will have to convert it to your favorite numeric type. I guess you can write the whole thing in one line:

result = numpy.array(list(csv.reader(open("test.csv", "rb"), delimiter=","))).astype("float")

Added Hint:

You could also use pandas.io.parsers.read_csv and get the associated numpy array which can be faster.