df.hist() vs. df.plot.hist()?

Question

Sorry if my question seems basic, but I couldn't find a straight answer. Currently learning about pandas visualization and didn't understand the difference between df.hist() vs. df.plot.hist() (see here and here, respectively). Can someone enlighten me?

Answer 1

They do different things, df.hist() will produce a separate plot for each Series whilst df.plot.hist() will produce a stacked single plot:

df = pd.DataFrame({
...     'length': [1.5, 0.5, 1.2, 0.9, 3],
...     'width': [0.7, 0.2, 0.15, 0.2, 1.1]
...     }, index= ['pig', 'rabbit', 'duck', 'chicken', 'horse'])
df.hist(bins=3)

produces:

Whilst df.plot.hist(bins=3) produces:

So it's down to what you want, they are convenience functions for different uses.