Grouped Bar Chart — Makie.jl

A grouped bar chart that displays multiple bars side-by-side for each category, enabling direct comparison of values across different groups within the same categorical dimension. This visualization excels at showing how different groups perform relative to each other across multiple categories, making patterns and differences immediately apparent. Grouped bar charts are essential for comparative analysis where you need to track multiple series against the same set of categories.

Grouped Bar Chart rendered with Makie.jl

Julia source (Makie.jl)

# anyplot.ai
# bar-grouped: Grouped Bar Chart
# Library: makie 0.21.9 | Julia 1.11.9
# Quality: 94/100 | Created: 2026-08-05

using CairoMakie
using Colors

# --- Theme tokens -------------------------------------------------------
const THEME    = get(ENV, "ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
const PAGE_BG  = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#FAF8F1" : colorant"#1A1A17"
const INK      = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#1A1A17" : colorant"#F0EFE8"
const INK_SOFT = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#4A4A44" : colorant"#B8B7B0"

const IMPRINT_PALETTE = [
    colorant"#009E73", colorant"#C475FD", colorant"#4467A3", colorant"#BD8233",
    colorant"#AE3030", colorant"#2ABCCD", colorant"#954477", colorant"#99B314",
]

# --- Data -----------------------------------------------------------------
# Quarterly hardware/software/services revenue ($M) across five regions.
categories = ["N. America", "Europe", "Asia-Pacific", "Latin America", "MEA"]
groups     = ["Hardware", "Software", "Services"]

# rows = categories, cols = groups
# Asia-Pacific breaks the otherwise-monotonic Hardware > Software > Services
# ranking (Software leads there), keeping the comparison less predictable.
revenue = [
    42.0 28.0 15.0
    35.0 31.0 18.0
    20.0 29.0 12.0
    18.0 14.0  9.0
    12.0  9.0  6.0
]

n_cat = length(categories)
n_grp = length(groups)

x      = repeat(1:n_cat, inner = n_grp)
dodge  = repeat(1:n_grp, outer = n_cat)
height = vec(permutedims(revenue))
colors = IMPRINT_PALETTE[repeat(1:n_grp, outer = n_cat)]

# --- Plot -------------------------------------------------------------------
fig = Figure(
    size            = (1600, 900),
    fontsize        = 14,
    backgroundcolor = PAGE_BG,
)

ax = Axis(
    fig[1, 1];
    title             = "bar-grouped · julia · makie · anyplot.ai",
    titlesize         = 20,
    titlecolor        = INK,
    xlabel            = "Region",
    ylabel            = "Revenue (\$M)",
    xlabelsize        = 14,
    ylabelsize        = 14,
    xlabelcolor       = INK,
    ylabelcolor       = INK,
    xticklabelsize    = 13,
    yticklabelsize    = 12,
    xticklabelcolor   = INK_SOFT,
    yticklabelcolor   = INK_SOFT,
    xtickcolor        = INK_SOFT,
    ytickcolor        = INK_SOFT,
    backgroundcolor   = PAGE_BG,
    topspinevisible   = false,
    rightspinevisible = false,
    leftspinecolor    = INK_SOFT,
    bottomspinecolor  = INK_SOFT,
    xgridvisible      = false,
    ygridcolor        = RGBAf(INK.r, INK.g, INK.b, 0.15),
    yminorgridvisible = false,
)

barplot!(
    ax, x, height;
    dodge     = dodge,
    color     = colors,
    width     = 0.85,
    dodge_gap = 0.03,
    gap       = 0.25,
)

ax.xticks = (1:n_cat, categories)

# --- Data storytelling: per-region totals, leading region called out -------
totals      = vec(sum(revenue, dims = 2))
max_per_cat = vec(maximum(revenue, dims = 2))
top_idx     = argmax(totals)

for i in 1:n_cat
    text!(
        ax, Point2f(i, max_per_cat[i] + 1.5);
        text     = "\$$(round(Int, totals[i]))M",
        align    = (:center, :bottom),
        fontsize = 12,
        color    = INK_SOFT,
    )
end

text!(
    ax, Point2f(top_idx, max_per_cat[top_idx] + 5.5);
    text     = "▲ leading region",
    align    = (:center, :bottom),
    fontsize = 12,
    color    = INK,
    font     = :bold,
)

# Set explicitly *after* every plot element (bars + text) has been added, so
# no later autolimits recompute can shrink the headroom the labels need.
ylims!(ax, 0, maximum(revenue) + 10)

legend_elements = [
    PolyElement(color = IMPRINT_PALETTE[i], strokecolor = INK, strokewidth = 1)
    for i in 1:n_grp
]
Legend(
    fig[1, 2], legend_elements, groups, "Product Line";
    labelcolor      = INK_SOFT,
    titlecolor      = INK,
    framevisible    = false,
    backgroundcolor = PAGE_BG,
)

colgap!(fig.layout, 1, 24)

# --- Save -------------------------------------------------------------------
save("plot-$(THEME).png", fig; px_per_unit = 2)

Part of Grouped Bar Chart on anyplot.ai.

Other implementations