Version Compatibility

Reference examples tested with: ggplot2 3.5+, ggbeeswarm 0.7+, ggdist 3.3+, gghalves 0.1.4+, seaborn 0.13+, matplotlib 3.8+, ptitprince 0.3+ (Python raincloud).

Before using code patterns, verify installed versions match. If versions differ:

• Python: pip show <package> then help(module.function) to check signatures
• R: packageVersion('<pkg>') then ?function_name to verify parameters

If code throws ImportError, AttributeError, or TypeError, introspect the installed package and adapt the example to match the actual API rather than retrying.

Distribution Plots

"Plot the distribution per group" -> Render boxplot, violin, beeswarm, or raincloud calibrated to N per group, the underlying distribution shape, and the audience's ability to read each encoding. The default geom_bar(stat='summary') is the canonical misleading choice — Weissgerber 2015 PLOS Biol documented that 703 top physiology papers use bar-of-mean despite multiple distinct distributions producing identical bars.

• R: ggplot2::geom_boxplot, ggplot2::geom_violin, ggbeeswarm::geom_quasirandom, ggdist::stat_halfeye, gghalves::geom_half_violin
• Python: seaborn.boxplot/violinplot/swarmplot/stripplot, ptitprince.RainCloud

The Single Most Important Modern Insight -- Bars of Means Lie