Gnuplot in Action

Preface

I have been using gnuplot for 15 years, and it’s an indispensable part of my toolset: one of the handful of programs I can’t do without.

Initially, I used gnuplot as part of my academic research work as a theoretical condensed matter physicist. But much later, when I joined Amazon.com, I found myself using gnuplot again, this time to analyze the movement of workers in Amazon’s gargantuan warehouses and the distribution of packages to customers. Later yet, I found gnuplot helpful when analyzing web traffic patterns for the Walt Disney Company.

I find gnuplot indispensable because it lets me see data, and do so in an easy, uncomplicated manner. Using gnuplot, I can draw and redraw graphs and look at data in different ways. I can generate ...