How to Convert Non-Standard Date Formats for Plotting in Python?

Converting Dates to Plottable Format

Plotting data against dates can be challenging when dates are stored in non-standard formats. In the given case, the date format is "01/02/1991". To simplify the plotting process, we can convert these dates into a format acceptable by the plot function of matplotlib.

To begin, convert the strings into instances of Python datetime.date:

<code class="python">import datetime as dt

dates = ['01/02/1991','01/03/1991','01/04/1991']
x = [dt.datetime.strptime(d,'%m/%d/%Y').date() for d in dates]</code>

The next step is to plot the data. Instead of using plot_date(), which encountered the error, we can use the simpler plot() instead:

<code class="python">import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.dates as mdates

plt.gca().xaxis.set_major_formatter(mdates.DateFormatter('%m/%d/%Y'))
plt.gca().xaxis.set_major_locator(mdates.DayLocator())
plt.plot(x,y)
plt.gcf().autofmt_xdate()</code>

By following these steps, you can now plot your information effectively against dates in the desired format.

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