Boxplot

A boxplot summarizes a distribution with five numbers: the box spans the middle half of the data (from the 25th to the 75th percentile), a line inside marks the median (the middle value), and two whiskers reach out toward the smaller and larger ends, with individual dots beyond them flagged as possible outliers. It compresses a whole batch of numbers into one compact glyph.

Its real strength is comparing many groups side by side — say, salaries across ten departments — because each group becomes one small box and you can scan the medians and spreads at a glance. The trade-off is that it hides fine shape: a boxplot cannot tell you whether a distribution has two peaks, so for a single group a histogram often reveals more.