Why Hexagons Are Better than Squares for 2D Histogram Plots
You might have seen a 2D histogram (or a density plot) with hexagonal tessellation, but have you ever wondered why it uses hexagons?
Here is an example.
Each figure represents the count or density of data points that fall into the bins (cells). This hexagonal division is also known as a ‘honeycomb lattice.’
To depict the count or density, it might be turned into a heatmap as shown above, or the size of the cell can be used to represent it, similar to a bubble chart.
Hexagons are cute.
Sometimes it is enough as a reason to use hexagonal binning.
But is it merely for their aesthetic appeal?
In fact, there’s a practical reason behind the choice of hexagonal shapes. Let’s dive into the reasoning behind hexagonal binning.
First of all, why are the options for tessellation limited to square or hexagon among regular polygons?
In fact, regular triangles are also a candidate. Since the minimum number of sides required to compose a plane is three, the shape with the least number of sides that can fill a plane is the triangle.
You might think there’s also a regular pentagon between the square and hexagon, but a regular…