I’m working with matplotlib and need to find out what backend it’s currently using. Sometimes I run code in a Jupyter notebook or an IPython shell, and other times I execute Python scripts from the command line. The backend seems to change based on the environment, and I want to know which one is active at any time. Is there an easy command or method I can use to show the current backend? I’ve checked the documentation, but I haven’t seen a straightforward answer. This information would be really useful for debugging, especially when my plots aren’t showing as they should in different environments.
You can easily check the active backend in matplotlib by using matplotlib.get_backend(). This function returns the current backend being used as a string. It’s especially beneficial when working across different environments, such as Jupyter notebooks or scripts, as each may handle backend settings differently. Ensure you call this after importing matplotlib like so: import matplotlib; print(matplotlib.get_backend()). I encountered similar issues, and retrieving the backend at the start significantly reduced my debugging efforts.
u can just do plt.get_backend() right after importing pyplot. much easier to remember than the full matplotlib.get_backend(). it saves some typing which is handy when debugging too.
Oh interesting! Quick question though - do certain backends work better for your specifc setup? Does the backend choice actually impact performance or just how the plots look? I’m wondering if there’s more to think about besides just checking which one’s running…