Using %matplotlib widget instead of %matplotlib notebook,tk,etc

Matplotlib supports specifying a backend for rendering matplotlib graphs through the use a %matplotlib <backend> line magic. Most of these implementations will shell out to an interactive window when plotting.

Supported Backends:

VS code should work with these two options (has been thoroughly tested):

• %matplotlib inline - This is the default and will render images as PNGs
• %matplotlib widget - This generates an ipywidget that renders plots in a control. Multiple plots and zooming are supported. For more information see the README

Partially supported backends:

VS code may sometimes work with these options (has worked in some environments, but not others):

• %matplotlib qt5
• %matplotlib agg

Unsupported backends (has been tried and fails/hangs):

• %matplotlib tk
• %matplotlib notebook
• %matplotlib nbagg
• %matplotlib wx
• %matplotlib svg
• %matplotlib pdf