Changing plot with Python and Matplotlib

Question

I have file which contains a list of coordinates. I would like to take each point and plot it one after another, creating some sort of animation.

Assuming I am getting the data like this, what should I do in order to have each point plotted for a split second and then replaced with the next one?

...
for line in f:
    data = line.split(',')
    x_coord = data[0]
    y_coord = data[1]
    ...

Answer 1

Plotting one by one isn't the answer - you're unlikely to be able to control the speed at which each plot call pops up on the screen, as that may be window-manager dependent and won't create a good user experience.

If you don't need a live animation, you could render each plot as a PNG, then use mencoder to generate the animation, as described in the Matplotlib FAQ.

If you do want a live animation, that's what matplotlib's animation is for. Steinar Lima links to a good Stack Overflow answer above.