plot — Create 2-D line plots in MATLAB and RunMat.

plot creates 2-D line charts from plot(y), plot(x, y), and multi-series call forms. Returned handle behavior and plotting-property integration follow MATLAB semantics.

Syntax

h = plot(Y)
h = plot(Y, LineSpec)
h = plot(Y, Name, Value, ...)
h = plot(X, Y)
h = plot(X, Y, LineSpec)
h = plot(X, Y, Name, Value, ...)

h = plot(Y)
h = plot(Y, LineSpec)
h = plot(Y, Name, Value, ...)
h = plot(X, Y)
h = plot(X, Y, LineSpec)
h = plot(X, Y, Name, Value, ...)
h = plot(ax, Y)
h = plot(ax, X, Y)
h = plot(ax, X, Y, LineSpec)
h = plot(ax, X, Y, Name, Value, ...)
h = plot(X1, Y1, ..., Xn, Yn)
h = plot(ax, X1, Y1, ..., Xn, Yn)

Inputs

Returns

Errors

How plot works

• plot(y) uses 1:n as the implicit x-axis, matching MATLAB shorthand behavior.
• plot(x, y) requires the same element count in both inputs. Row and column vectors are both accepted.
• Multiple data pairs in one call create multiple line objects and return the handle for the first created series, matching common MATLAB plotting conventions.
• The returned handle works with get and set, so line color, width, display names, and marker properties can be inspected or updated after plotting.
• Plotting is subplot-local. If the active axes come from subplot, the line is attached to that subplot rather than globally mutating every axes in the figure.
• RunMat treats plot as a rendering sink: fusion stops at the builtin, but GPU residency is preserved on the happy path when the shared plotting device is installed.

Options

• Style strings like '-', '--', ':', 'o', 'x', and combined forms such as 'r--o' are accepted in MATLAB-style plot calls, including per-series forms such as plot(x1,y1,'r',x2,y2,'b').
• Name/value property updates can be supplied inline or applied after plotting through set(h, ...), where h is the returned line handle. Inline line-spec tokens may appear before or after name/value pairs for a series.
• HandleVisibility accepts 'on', 'off', and 'callback'; 'off' keeps the line visible but removes it from automatic legend entries.
• Display names set during or after plotting are used by legend when labels are not passed explicitly.

Does RunMat run plot on the GPU?

On the GPU happy path, RunMat reuses exported plot input buffers and emits renderer-ready line geometry without a full host round-trip.

Marker-heavy or otherwise unsupported combinations can fall back to host materialization while preserving the same visible result and handle semantics.

GPU memory and residency

plot preserves GPU residency when the plotting context can consume exported GPU buffers directly. If the active plotting path cannot use the input buffers, RunMat gathers once before rendering while keeping the resulting figure semantics unchanged.

Examples

Plot paired x/y data as a basic line chart

x = linspace(0, 2*pi, 200);
y = sin(x);
h = plot(x, y);

Expected output:

% h is a numeric handle for the first line object

Use MATLAB-style y-only shorthand

samples = [1 4 2 5 3];
plot(samples);

Expected output:

% RunMat uses 1:length(samples) for the x-axis

Create multiple series and drive the legend from display names

x = linspace(0, 2*pi, 200);
h1 = plot(x, sin(x));
set(h1, 'DisplayName', 'sin(x)', 'LineWidth', 2);
hold on;
h2 = plot(x, cos(x));
set(h2, 'DisplayName', 'cos(x)');
legend;

Expected output:

% The legend uses the line DisplayName properties

Use per-series LineSpec and line properties

x = 1:3;
y = [1 2 3];
plot(x, y, 'r', x, y + 1, 'b');
h = plot(x, y, 'LineWidth', 1.2, 'b', 'HandleVisibility', 'off');

Expected output:

% The first call creates red and blue series; h is visible but excluded from automatic legends

Inspect and update a plotted line through handles

x = 0:0.1:1;
h = plot(x, x.^2);
get(h, 'Type')
set(h, 'Color', 'r', 'Marker', 'o', 'MarkerSize', 6);

Expected output:

ans =
    'line'

Damped oscillation with envelope

t = linspace(0, 4*pi, 500);
envelope = exp(-0.3*t);
signal = envelope .* sin(5*t);

h1 = plot(t, signal);
set(h1, 'DisplayName', 'Damped signal', 'LineWidth', 1.5);
hold on;
h2 = plot(t, envelope, '--');
set(h2, 'DisplayName', 'Envelope', 'LineWidth', 1.5, 'Color', [0.85 0.33 0.1]);
h3 = plot(t, -envelope, '--');
set(h3, 'DisplayName', '-Envelope', 'LineWidth', 1.5, 'Color', [0.85 0.33 0.1]);
hold off;

title('Damped Oscillation');
xlabel('Time (s)');
ylabel('Amplitude');
legend;
grid on;

Compare this result with other chart types in the MATLAB Plot Gallery.

Using plot with coding agents

Open a RunMat example with live inputs, then ask the agent to explain how plot changes the result.

FAQ

x = linspace(0, 2*pi, 200);
plot(x, sin(x));
hold on;
plot(x, cos(x));
legend('sin', 'cos');

Related Plotting functions

More plotting resources

• Choosing the right plot type
• Styling plots and axes
• Plot replay and export
• Complete plotting guide

Open-source implementation

Unlike proprietary runtimes, every RunMat function is open-source. Read exactly how plot is executed, line by line, in Rust.

• View the source for plot in Rust on GitHub
• Learn how the RunMat runtime works
• Found a bug? Open an issue with a minimal reproduction.

About RunMat

RunMat is an open-source runtime that executes MATLAB-syntax code blazing on any GPU. It is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.

• RunMat automatically optimizes your math for GPU execution on Apple, Nvidia, and AMD hardware. No code changes needed. Simulations that took hours now take minutes.
• Start running code in seconds. RunMat runs in the browser, on the desktop, or from the CLI. No license server, no IT ticket.

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