What is the difference between a BarChart and a Histogram ?

A Histogram represents the distribution of a numerical variable.  A bar-chart is typically used to compare numeric values corresponding to categorical variables.

To construct a histogram: 

  • X-axis: Usually the range of values is binned. In other words, the entire range is divided into a series of intervals and each interval occupies a slot on the X axis. 
  • Y-axis: The number of times a value occurred in each interval is shown on the Y axis.

Example: Histogram of number of people who arrived at various time intervals

To construct a Vertical Barchart : 

X axis: Categorical Labels

Y-axis : Numeric values corresponding to the categorical variable

Example: Comparing the percentage of population of various ethnicities

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