A quick example of plotting real valued functions. This example highlights the use of functions as first class objects and higher order functions.

func_plot.py

from numpy import linspace, sin
from pylab import plot, figure, show

def plotFunction(f):
    """ Plot a function on the domain x in (-10, 10) """
    xs = linspace(-10, 10, 100)
    ys = map(f, xs)
    plot(xs, ys)

def derivative(f, dx=.00001):
    """ The derivative of a real valued function """
    def fprime(x):
        return (f(x + dx) - f(x)) / dx
    return fprime

def sync(x):
    """ An example function """
    if x == 0:
        return 1
    else:
        return sin(x) / x

if __name__ == '__main__':
    figure()
    plotFunction(sin)
    plotFunction(derivative(sin))

    figure()
    plotFunction(sync)
    plotFunction(derivative(sync))
    plotFunction(derivative(derivative(sync)))

    show()